Clueless Lovers Forever (One Shot Collection)
by Guineapigs1
Summary: A one shot collection based around our favorite clueless lovers, Kyoko and Ren! KyoRen Week 2019 participant. Latest Chapter Summary (A Helping Headphone): Nervous for her first date with Ren, Kyoko asks Kanae to help coach her through an earpiece. However, even with Kanae's help, can Kyoko have a successful first date with Ren?
1. Doll Chaos

**Welcome to the new oneshot collection that I'm starting up! Since I have so many oneshots in my head and too many to post each as separate chapters, I decided that I would try putting all my future oneshots into this collection!**

 **Today's fic features Kyoko and her ultra-precise handmade dolls. I've been writing this one on and off for a while, and I'm happy that I've finally created a version that I'm content with. I hope you enjoy it!**

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 **Title: Doll Chaos**

 **Genre: Humor/Romance**

 **Rating: K**

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Never in a million years had Kyoko expected something like this to happen, but here she was on the floor of her bedroom, staring in shock at the small blonde Sho doll that had bit her finger.

"Mogami-san! Are you okay?" Three of the Ren dolls next to her asked in concern.

Kyoko looked around her room to see several groups of her dolls engaging with each other. On her bed, a Kyoko doll wearing her Love Me uniform was choking the Sho doll wearing Sho's outfit in the Prisoner music video. Near the door was another Kyoko doll with her outfit for Mio on, apologizing in a dogeza to two Ren dolls who shook their heads with an NG-sigh. And trying to climb up the wall was a Sho doll attempting to take down Kyoko's poster of Ren with a Ren doll trying to stop him. In other words, Kyoko's room was in complete chaos.

"Kyoko-chan, are you feeling alright? Your face is turning pale," Kyoko's Corn doll asked.

"Even as a doll you have Tsuruga-san's voice?!" Kyoko's jaw gaped open. Corn only smiled at her and did a flip.

Looking around at the chaos going on around her, Kyoko decided that something needed to be done. She didn't know how this had happened since the dolls had all suddenly come to life, but there must be a way to fix this!

Kyoko made her way past two Sho dolls that were admiring each other to her closet where she brought out three drawstring bags. Opening the first one, she went around her room recklessly throwing any Sho dolls into the bag, snickering at their cries of pain from being thrown in so roughly. After gathering all the Sho dolls and making sure the bag was tied tightly, Kyoko closed the bag and opened another one, this time gently gathering any Kyoko dolls. At last she opened the last bag and saw that the Rens had all nicely lined up for her. Kyoko smiled and put them all gently in the bag until she came to the end of the line where Corn waited for her. For some reason, she didn't feel right lumping Corn with the Rens even if Corn looked identical to them.

"What are you waiting for, Kyoko-chan?" The Corn doll wondered.

"What about you stay on my shoulder instead, Corn?" Kyoko suggested.

"Sure!" Corn replied with a smile. Kyoko picked him up and placed him on top of her shoulder. Closing up the bag of Ren dolls, it was clear by the size of the three bags that most dolls she had were of Ren. She took the three bags and stored them in her closet, purposely smacking the bag of Shos against the wall before harshly throwing it to the ground. She then put on an outfit and went downstairs to mount her bike and ride it to LME. Maybe someone there would have answers as to why her dolls had suddenly come to life?

When Kyoko got to LME, she entered the elevator and pushed a button. The elevator zipped her up a few floors before stopping, and Kyoko exited the elevator to head towards Lory's office. When she approached it however, she immediately saw Maria waiting for her on a couch outside. Maria ran up to her, almost in tears.

"Onee-sama! I cast a spell to make my Ren-sama doll come to life, but someone took him!" Maria cried.

"Ah, so _you_ were the one responsible for this. I was wondering if maybe you had cast a spell," Kyoko said, pointing to Corn on her shoulder. Maria widened her eyes in surprise as Corn waved to her with a smile.

"Onee-sama? Why did you make a doll of Ren-sama with blonde hair and green eyes?" Maria wondered.

"It's not Tsuruga-san. This is Corn, a fairy prince who I first met as a child," Kyoko smiled.

"Then why does he look so much like Ren-sama?" Maria asked. Kyoko opened her mouth to reply before blushing at the reason why Corn had taken on Ren's appearance. She couldn't tell Maria that it was because Ren's presence had been the greatest in her mind when Corn had looked through her memories to take a voice.

"It's a long story, but I thought you said that someone stole your Tsuruga-san doll?" Kyoko said, trying to change the subject.

"There was a weird man with silver hair and purple eyes that suddenly appeared and took off with Ren-sama!" Maria exclaimed. Kyoko groaned as she realized who the thief probably was based off the description. Of course that Beagle would tamper with anything mystical or magical like this.

"I think I know who took him. Don't worry, Maria-chan. I'll get him back for you," Kyoko promised. Maria hugged her before Kyoko took off to visit the Love Me room. She was thinking that Reino probably took the doll to blackmail her again, so he would probably be waiting for her there. When Kyoko arrived at the LoveMe room, her suspicions were proven correct as Reino stood with a cocky grin on his face, the Ren doll in chains next to him.

"Beagle," Kyoko growled.

"I was wondering when you would show up," Reino grinned.

"Give me back Tsuruga-san," Kyoko demanded.

"And why should I? Did you know that this doll can be used as a voodoo doll with the right spells? Imagine having Tsuruga Ren at your beck and call."

"No! I can't let you do that! Please don't bring Tsuruga-san into this! Just tell me what you want me to do so that you'll give me back the doll!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"If that's the case, then I want you to be my girlfriend," Reino smirked.

"What?!" Kyoko was taken aback.

"Those are my terms."

"I cannot agree to your terms, Beagle," Kyoko replied, thinking that she would never open herself up to love again. Although, her crush on a certain tall brown-haired actor was an exception. She just couldn't control how she felt about him.

"Why not!?" Reino growled, grabbing her arm. As he did, he saw her memories ever since he had last seen her, her memories of Ren being most prominent. He felt her locks open and saw her realize how she felt for Ren, and Reino realized that now Ren had the largest presence in her heart, far greater than Sho had ever had. Reino had always known hate and revenge would stay with a person for long, but love was on a whole other level. No emotion could compete with love for sway over a person's heart.

"I see. You've fallen in love with that man," Reino frowned.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Kyoko asked, shocked that Reino might know about her secret feelings for Ren.

"That thing I told you about this doll being a voodoo doll was a lie that I told you to try to get what I wanted, but I know it's impossible for me to be in your dark heart as long as that man is. I don't want to compete with him, but it's still pretty fun to toy with you. You can have the doll back, but you'll have to catch it first," Reino said, flicking his hand to undo the chains on the Ren doll who immediately ran out of the room.

"What did you do? Why did Tsuruga-san run away?"

"It was a simple spell that makes it so that the doll can't stop running. If you want to catch him, then you should probably run after him," Reino said, snapping his fingers to disappear from the room, a puff of smoke the only thing that marked that he had ever been there. Even though she was still confused by his words, Kyoko bolted down the hallway towards where the Ren doll had ran off. Soon, the doll came in sight and she sped up her pursuit.

"Tsuruga-san, please stop!" Kyoko called out.

"I can't, Mogami-san! Something is forcing me to run!" The doll yelled back as it rounded a corner up ahead. Kyoko ran after it, rounding the corner to see a four-way intersection. The doll had already turned. Looking to her left, Kyoko saw Ren and sprinted to him. When she got closer, she jumped out to tackle him so that he wouldn't run away. She was confused however when she realized that this Ren doll was full-sized. Had the Ren doll grown?

"Mogami-san?"

Kyoko looked down in horror as she realized that this was the actual Ren that she had just tackled. She immediately went into a dogeza.

"I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san! Please berate your lowly kohai for tackling you! I don't deserve to live after hurting Tsuruga-san like this!" Kyoko cried out.

"Please get off the floor, Mogami-san. I'm fine. You only surprised me," Ren assured her to stop her tears. When her tears slowed, Ren breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Is there a reason why you tackled me, Mogami-san?"

"Maria-chan's Ren doll was kidnapped by the Beagle, and he cast a spell on the doll to force it to run away! I was trying to catch it, but I didn't know that it was actually you here! I guess I should have realized since you weren't running and were full-sized," Kyoko explained. Now if it were someone else, they would have thought that Kyoko was crazy based on what she was saying, but Ren was used to it by now and wasn't fazed by it.

Ren looked around and saw a doll lying on the ground. Bending down to pick it up, Ren almost dropped it in shock as the Corn doll suddenly smiled at him.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Corn! I didn't mean for you to fall off when I tackled Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko apologized to the doll.

"Don't worry about it, Kyoko-chan!" Corn smiled.

"Hey, Mogami-san? I think I might have an idea for how to solve your problem. I think it might fix everything," Ren smiled playfully. Kyoko quirked an eyebrow at his boyish grin, wondering what type of idea would cause that expression.

"I'll do anything to fix this!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"All you have to do is wake up."

"What do you-mhmppfh!"

Kyoko widened her eyes in surprise as soft velvety lips collided with her own. When Ren pulled back, Kyoko was left with a huge smile covering her face. For some reason, she felt dizzy with pleasure and felt as if the world was spinning.

"Wake up, Mogami-san," Ren urged her.

"What did you say?" Kyoko asked, still in her dreamlike stupor from being kissed by her crush so suddenly.

" _Wake up, Mogami-san."_

Kyoko suddenly opened her eyes and raised her head that had been resting on someone's shoulder. She turned to see who she had inconvenienced by laying her head on them and blushed as she made eye contact with her senpai, but he was currently in the persona of Cain Heel.

"Setsu, you were having a pretty deep sleep there. I almost couldn't wake you up," Cain said, Ren having switched back into character after his momentary slip of tongue. He had been trying to wake Kyoko up for the past ten minutes, but everything he had done as Cain hadn't worked, and they had already arrived at the site for that day's Tragic Marker shoot. It had surprised him when she had fallen asleep on his shoulder during the bus ride to the site, and since she had proven difficult to wake up, they were the only two still left on the bus. As a last resort, he had broken character and used her real name to wake her up.

"Nii-san! Why did you wake me up? I was dreaming!" Kyoko pouted, easily slipping into Setsu's character.

"What were you dreaming about that made you so hard to wake up?" Cain wondered. Kyoko momentarily regained control of her body at the memory of the dream kiss, and she blushed crimson red. What a crazy dream that had been. If not for the first part of her dream where the dolls had come to life, Kyoko would have let herself even believe that a kiss like that was possible. It was good that she could still distinguish reality from fiction though after that crazy dream.

"I think I've been making too many dolls," Kyoko said, resolving to stop making any more dolls for a while. They were already realistic enough.


	2. Paint the Way

**I wasn't expecting to participate in KyoRen Week 2019 since I didn't have anything prepared, but I might have the time to write a short drabble everyday. Hopefully I can keep up with the prompts! Today's prompt is "fall"!**

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With a paint roller in hand, Kyoko looked at the unpainted, upper half of the wall and tried to decide how she could tackle it. She was just too short to reach that high. At first, she had tried jumping to reach the unpainted part of the wall, but she was still missing a good 10 inches to reach the very top of the wall, not to mention that jumping that much put her out of breath real quick. Kyoko sighed, wishing that she could have been given the genes to be just a bit taller.

Kyoko knew that the dining room only a couple steps away had chairs that she could use to boost her height. Kyoko bit her lip, knowing that she shouldn't risk it, but she had already set out to finish the task. Besides, she would be careful. The last time she had climbed on a chair like this, she had fallen because of the shaky box that she had placed on top of the chair to gain more height. If she only climbed on the chair, she would be safe enough, right?

Kyoko set down her paint roller and grabbed a dining chair from the other room, setting it down next to the wall. She retrieved her paint roller and carefully mounted the chair, making sure her feet were steady before a victorious grin spread across her face. Kyoko was able to easily reach the top of the wall now, and she merrily spread the paint on the bare portion of the wall. She had to move her chair a couple of times to reach the other portions of the wall, but after about ten minutes, Kyoko was finally finished with painting the wall.

She wiped her brow with a satisfied smirk before the sound of the door slamming open made her jump in surprise, causing her to become off-balanced. The chair wobbled beneath her, and Kyoko shut her eyes tight, knowing that she was about to meet an impending doom. She heard a shout, and instead of hitting the hard wooden floor, Kyoko felt a pair of arms encircle her, preventing her from the pain of the fall. They landed on the floor softly. She knew the scent that enveloped her very well, and Kyoko opened her eyes to see her blonde husband on top of her, holding the back of her head and the small of her back.

Kyoko felt as the man shifted his weight off of her and placed the palms of his hands on the ground to hold himself up, one hand on either side of her so that she couldn't escape. He frowned at her, and Kyoko bit her lip in embarrassment.

"What did I tell you earlier?"

"I know. You said to be careful…" Kyoko replied softly.

"This is why I didn't want you to paint the room. I said that we could have just hired some painters to do the work for us."

"I didn't want to waste the money if I could do the work myself. Besides, I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't surprised me by slamming open that door," Kyoko huffed. The man above her looked down sheepishly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Kyoko shifted underneath him, but he held her in place as a playful smirk crossed over his features. Kyoko knew that look all too well, and she sighed as her husband wiped her lips with his thumb.

"Don't you dare ask if I have any experience in kissing, Kuon," Kyoko glared at him.

"I don't need to ask that. Trust me, I already know exactly how much experience you've had in kissing. I was the one who taught you after all," Kuon laughed.

"Then why are you still on top of me like this?!"

"Don't you have something to tell me, Kyoko?"

"What do you mean?"

Kuon caressed the side of her face as a brilliant smile blossomed on his lips. Kuon lifted his left hand to show that he had been holding something all this time. Kyoko eyes widened as she recognized the white stick in his hand displaying two little red lines.

"The reason I came in here so urgently was because I saw this on the counter of our bathroom. When did you find out?"

"I only just found out this morning, but I was going to tell you when you got home. I didn't expect you to return so early…" Kyoko trailed off before Kuon leaned down and kissed her senselessly, lifting her in his arms and spinning her in his joy.

"We're going to be parents!" Kuon beamed. Kyoko laughed at his joy and smiled back.

"I guess that means we know what we're going to use this empty room for now."


	3. Game On!

**Another addition to KyoRen Week! Here's a fluffy fic inspired by today's word, "play".**

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"AH!"

The sound of an explosion echoed through the room, and Kyoko groaned as her character died yet again. The sound of laughter next to her made her even more annoyed at her demise. Kyoko wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt before returning them to the sides of her controller in determination.

"I want another rematch! I'll beat you this time!"

"Mogami-san, we've already done five rematches and have been playing this game for over an hour…"

"You've won three games while I've won two, so we're not done yet! Let's do another rematch!" Kyoko barked back.

"Mogami-san, we really shouldn't-" Ren trailed off, setting down his controller on the table. Kyoko grabbed the controller and shoved it back in front of him with a smirk.

"So you aren't up to the challenge, huh? Are you worried that I'll break your winning streak? Are you scared?" Kyoko dangled the controller in front of him.

"I'm not worried about that-"

"Then what are you worried about?! Let's just do one more rematch!" Kyoko pouted, holding out the controller for Ren to take. Ren weighed the decision for a few seconds before taking the controller.

"Fine. We'll do one more rematch, but how about we raise the stakes?" Ren smirked as an idea came to mind. Kyoko smirked back, her competitive nature getting the best of her. "Very well. What's at stake?"

"If you win this round, then I'll do any one favor that you ask of me."

"And if I lose?"

"If you lose, then you have to give me a kiss."

Kyoko's face reddened. "What?! Wh-Why would you want something like that?!"

"Is there something wrong with a kiss, or are you too scared to take the challenge?" Ren repeated her words back at her with a smirk. Kyoko frowned as she realized he was only teasing her, and she turned back towards the TV.

"You're on!" Kyoko exclaimed, hunching over as she picked her character on the screen. Kyoko's character, King Kluck, was a gigantic chicken whose main attacks were the furious beating of his wings and a ranged attack in which the chicken threw explosive eggs at his opponents. In contrast, Ren's character was named Poppy, and she was a fairy who threw fairy dust at her opponents and cast magic spells. (Kyoko had originally wanted to choose this character, but Ren had beaten her to it).

"3…2…1…Fight!" The TV announced, and Kyoko flicked the joystick on her controller to the right to charge at Ren's character. She pressed the A button and threw an explosive egg at him, but Ren's quick maneuvering of his joystick made his character soar high above the intended attack onto the platform above him. Kyoko moved her character to catch up with him, but right as she was about to swipe at him with a wing, Ren's character dodged the attack by parrying to the left.

"Stop dodging my attacks!" Kyoko grumbled, performing a combo that finally managed to damage Ren's character. Kyoko smiled in victory, but Ren suddenly cast a magical spell that threw Kyoko's character in the air while simultaneously unleashing a combo that brought her down to half HP. Kyoko's jaw dropped, but she clenched her teeth in determination as she managed to land a combo on Ren as well, bringing him down to a little less than 3/4 HP.

Through a flurry of attacks and combos, Ren and Kyoko steadily brought each other's HP down, but Kyoko's HP was always just a bit lower than Ren's. At this rate, she would lose! And losing meant that she would have to-

Kyoko shook her head and bit her lip in concentration as she jumped over one of Ren's attacks and unleashed an egg-throwing combo that brought his HP down to 10%. "Ha!" Kyoko smirked, but her win was short-lived as her momentary lapse in concentration allowed for Ren to suddenly jump into the air and fly above her to land behind her. Kyoko tried to turn her character around to block his attack, but it was too late as Ren's character unleashed a combo of fairy dust and magic that blasted Kyoko's character off the screen.

"NO!" Kyoko cried out, sinking into the couch and putting her head in her hands in despair as the TV played victory music for Ren's character. She was too busy wallowing in her loss that she didn't notice when Ren turned the TV off and put both of their controllers on the table in front of them. Nor did she notice as Ren slid closer to her on the couch.

"I believe we agreed on a certain punishment if you lost."

Kyoko brought her hands away from her face and jumped in surprise at seeing Ren's smirking face so close to her own. Her face heated up in a blush, and she scooted back on the couch, but for every move backwards, Ren would match the movement with a scoot forwards. Eventually, Kyoko hit the side of the couch. She was trapped.

"Wh-Why do you even want a kiss anyways? Don't you have tons of girls throwing themselves at your feet, dying to kiss you?!"

"I don't want a kiss from any of them. The only one I want a kiss from is you, Mogami-san."

Those heartfelt words made Kyoko's face as red as a tomato. She tried to search his face for any trace of dishonesty, but she found him regarding her with a certain sincere softness in his eyes.

"Mogami-san, it wouldn't be nice to go back on your word, would it?" Ren pointed his finger to his lips, closing his eyes. Kyoko's brain tried to think of any way to get out of the situation, but she came up with no answers. After all, she had lost fair and square. The only way out was to give him what he wanted.

Kyoko slowly moved forward. She could do this. It was only one tiny kiss. She tried to imagine herself as a princess kissing her prince, keeping Ren's words of the rule of heart in her mind. As long as she stayed in character, this kiss wouldn't count. It wouldn't mean anything special. It was just a kiss between characters. Just like that kiss between Kyoko and Corn in Guam.

Kyoko brought her lips closer to Ren's, clutching her hands together in front of her chest. She paused as she felt the heat from his breath on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and darted her face forward, intending to pull back right away as she felt the soft pressure of her lips on his, but Ren had learned from his experience in Guam. Kyoko yelped in surprise as she was pushed back onto the couch by Ren pinning her beneath him. Their lips stayed connected as Ren deepened the kiss. Kyoko's eyes flew open in shock, and she didn't know how to respond as Ren's lips moved against her own. Should she kiss back?

Right before she could make her decision, Ren pulled away from her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there," Ren apologized. Kyoko blinked, touching her fingers to her lips as she remembered the feel of his lips on her own. Her heart was thundering under her chest, but then she realized that the kiss meant nothing to him. He probably did this kind of thing all the time. Why would she think for one second that she was special?

"Playboy… you probably manipulate girls into kissing you all the time…" Kyoko muttered under her breath, but Ren heard her and frowned.

"I assure you that I have never manipulated someone into kissing me."

"You manipulated _me_ into kissing you!"

"Not exactly. You were the one who agreed to kiss me if you lost the game. You didn't have to accept the conditions if you didn't want to."

Kyoko huffed and turned away from him. "Next time, I'll definitely win!"

"Are you saying you want to play again?" Ren asked, and as Kyoko turned back to him, she saw him wearing a childish grin. Kyoko narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are we playing with the same stakes?"

"Of course."

"You're on."

Needless to say, with a strong motivation to get the love of his life to kiss him, Ren won the next few games with ease.


	4. Messy Eater

**This is a short one, but I hope you enjoy! Today's prompt was "eat".**

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Kyoko shook her head at Ren's face which was splattered with food. She took a napkin off the counter and began to wipe off the mess as Ren smiled at her.

"Don't try to act all innocent with me. I still have to clean up the mess on the floor," Kyoko pouted, looking down to see the dropped bowl that had splattered food everywhere. She threw away the napkin after cleaning Ren's face and picked up the bowl from the floor, going into the kitchen and placing it in the sink.

"I did tell you that I didn't like sweet potatoes..."

"I'm not getting into another conversation with you about eating. First you don't eat enough, and then I learn you're one of most pickiest eaters I've met with regards to certain foods..."

"I'm not picky. There's only a few foods that I don't like, and sweet potatoes are one of them. When I was a baby, my mother tried to make her own baby food, and we both know how well she cooks... I can never eat a sweet potato without remembering that experience."

Suddenly, a crash was heard in the other room along with a groan. Kyoko could only guess what had happened now.

"Ren, what did you do?!" Kyoko exclaimed as she entered the dining room. She found Ren to be sitting on his chair innocently, although the whole container of sweet potatoes that Kyoko had left next to him had fallen onto the ground and shattered. Kyoko let out a sigh and bent down to carefully pick up the broken glass shards.

"I'll get it."

"Thanks."

Kyoko threw away the glass pieces in her hand and finished cleaning the dishes as her husband picked up the rest of the broken container of sweet potatoes. After he came into the kitchen to throw the shards away, Kyoko came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad that I'm in this together with you, Kuon," Kyoko laid her head on his back. Her husband shifted so that he was facing towards her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"There's no one else I'd rather raise a family with," Kuon smiled.

The two stayed in each other's embrace until a sudden wailing from the dining room broke the moment. They gave tired smiles to each other before hurrying together to the dining room to care for their son.

"You know, it still confuses me sometimes when you call him Ren," Kuon remarked as Kyoko picked up their infant son. Kyoko smiled at him as she rocked their son in her arms.

"What can I say? It's a good name."

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 **I feel like there's another fic like this floating around somewhere on this website, but I can't seem to remember the title.** **This drabble is my own writing, but I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little inspiration from that other fic that I read.** **If anyone knows the name of the fic in which their child is named Ren, please let me know so I can give idea credit where it's deserved!**

 **Also, in my head canon, I see this as a continuation from my one shot for the first day of KyoRen Week lol.**


	5. Do You Wanna Date?

**Today's prompt was "date".**

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Ren paused outside the Love Me room as he passed by it, wondering if his favorite Love Me member would be inside at the moment. As luck would have it, Ren could hear three female voices talking jovially, and Ren was about to knock before he heard Kyoko's next words.

"Do you wanna date, Moko-san?"

Ren was taken aback, but there was no way she would say that. He must have heard Kyoko incorrectly.

"Yeah sure. I'll take a date," Ren heard Kanae respond nonchalantly. Ren was shocked at the turn of events and Kanae's casual tone. He had always believed that there was no way that Kyoko would return his feelings, but he had never expected that Kyoko would fall in love with Kanae. He had thought that the two of them were best friends, not lovers.

"Amamiya-san, do you wanna date as well?"

Ren pressed his ear closer to the door as his jaw dropped. Now she was asking Chiori?! What the heck?!

"Oooo! Sure! Dates are really sweet!"

With Chiori's reply, Ren sunk down to the floor in a depression. He had not thought it possible that Kyoko would date someone with her strong aversion to love, nonetheless enter a polyamorous relationship with the other two Love Me members!

"Tsuruga-san?"

Ren looked up from the floor to see that Kyoko had opened the door and was looking at him with concern. "Are you okay?" Kyoko wondered.

Ren tried to put on a smile to hide his pain and stood up. "I'm fine."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief, but Ren only continued to wear that smile. Suddenly, Ren saw her mouth open in an "oh". It seemed as if an idea popped into her head.

"Tsuruga-san, do you wanna date?"

Ren was lost for words and looked at her in disbelief. "W-what?"

"Do you want a date?" Kyoko repeated. Ren was lost on how to respond. Of course he loved her, but he wasn't sure if he could stand being in this type of relationship with her. He was selfish and wanted her love all to himself. He didn't want to share with the other two Love Me members.

"Mogami-san, I appreciate the question, but-" Ren began to respond before Kyoko pulled a plastic bag full of dates from her bag. He watched as she took one out.

"They're really sweet!" Kyoko smiled, eating the date in her hand before offering the bag to Ren. The truth dawned on Ren, and he breathed out a sigh of relief at finally realizing why Kyoko had asked so many people if they wanted a date.

"Here I thought you were asking me whether or not I wanted to date you," Ren couldn't help but laugh at his misunderstanding. However, Kyoko misunderstood his laughter for him thinking the idea of dating her was incomprehensible. Her heart ached at his laugh, and she looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry for confusing you. I know the thought of dating someone like me is unbelievable," Kyoko said self-deprecatingly.

"Why would it be unbelievable?" Ren wondered.

"Isn't that why you're laughing?"

"No. I was laughing because I thought that you were trying to rope me into a polyamorous relationship with Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san," Ren smiled in amusement.

"EHHH?!" Kyoko's eyebrows rose in shock.

"I would love a date with only you, Mogami-san," Ren smiled. Kyoko felt her cheeks heating up at his smile, and she held the bag of dates out for him; however, Ren didn't take any.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked, confused why he wasn't moving to grab a date out of the bag.

"Are you free next Saturday?"

"Yes, but why?"

"I'll pick you up from the Darumaya at 10 AM so we can go on our date," Ren grinned, giving her a small wave before heading in the opposite direction. It only took ten seconds for Kyoko to finally come back to reality after hearing his declaration.

"EHHHHHH?!" Ren heard from the hall behind him. Ren chuckled to himself, but he had already turned the corner and was hurrying away before she could change her mind. There were many ways he had planned on asking her out, but who knew that such a small misunderstanding would finally give him the courage to do so?

Needless to say, Kyoko and Ren had plenty more dates after the first one.

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 **I got the idea for this one shot from that one joke about a boy asking a girl if she wanted to kiss at the movies and then pulling out a bag of Hershey's Kisses. I wonder if when Kyoko and Ren finally get together, it'll be over something stupid like this lol. See you all tomorrow!**


	6. Consequences

**I'm so late, but I'm determined to finish the prompts for KyoRen Week, even if it's already over.**

 **The prompt for this fic was "accountability".**

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"YOU!"

The whole banquet room froze as Kuu stomped his way over to Tsuruga Ren. Even Ren himself was startled by Kuu's sudden exclamation. Everyone watched with baited breath as Kuu stopped in front of Ren and crossed his arms, sizing Ren up.

"Is there something you needed, Hizuri-san?" Ren asked. He glanced around the room to see everyone's attention on them. Why was Kuu singling him out at his movie premiere?

"So you're the man who's dating my daughter..." Kuu scoffed.

"Yes, Kyoko and I have been dating for a few months."

"Well as her father, I don't approve."

Ren looked at Kuu in confusion. What was he going on about? "I'm sorry, Hizuri-san, but I don't understand. Do you have something against me?"

"I know you're hiding something, and I don't approve of a suspicious man like you dating my daughter and breaking her heart!" Kuu exclaimed passionately, grasping his hands in front of his chest. Ren deadpanned, annoyed at his father's dramatics.

"I assure you, Kyoko knows everything there is to know about me. If you wanted to confront me about my past, Hizuri-san, I would have rather you did it in private..." Ren replied with a challenging narrowing of his eyes.

"Very well. We can continue this conversation in private. Lead the way," Kuu smirked back. Ren nodded and led Kuu away from the crowd into a private meeting room. Once the door closed behind them, Ren sighed.

"What was that about, Dad?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who said you wanted me to act like I didn't know you. Since I'm not supposed to act like I know you, isn't it right for me to show concern if the guy who my daughter's dating is keeping secrets?"

"Dad, I told you that Kyoko knows everything. I'm just not ready for the world to know yet."

"I know, but you brought this on yourself, Tsuruga-san. If you were my Kuon, then I wouldn't have to act so worried about my daughter, but since you aren't-"

"So you're saying that you'll continue to play up this protective father act until I reveal my true identity?" Ren interrupted him.

"It's been so many years, Kuon. Your parents can only wait so long," Kuu whimpered, using those Hizuri puppy dog eyes.

"This is manipulation," Ren argued. Kuu's puppy dog eyes intensified, and finally, Ren broke.

"I'll make sure I reveal my identity before Kyoko and I get married..." Ren sighed. Kuu nodded in satisfaction before realizing the hidden meaning behind Ren's words. Kuu's nostrils flared, and he grabbed Ren's shirt in his fist.

"YOU GOT ENGAGED AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Kuu exclaimed, enraged. Ren rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He guessed it was time that his actions finally caught up with him.


	7. Ren's Love-Hate Relationship with Kijima

**I'm very late, but here's prompt number six for KyoRen Week. This prompt was "friends".**

 **Alternate Title of the Oneshot: Three times Kijima screwed up Ren's relationship with Kyoko and one time he didn't**

* * *

There were times when Ren wondered how he was even friends with Kijima. The two were quite different. Whereas Ren was usually calm and demure and had a boring romantic life (or a nonexistent one), Kijima was the ultimate playboy and smooth-talker. Many times, this difference in personalities would put Ren in some sticky situations, particularly regarding his relationship with Kyoko.

One prime example was when Kijima invited him drinking after Ren had seen that picture of Kyoko and Sho kissing and went into a depression. Unknowingly, Kijima had also invited Kusunoki Kana, and Ren had been voraciously eaten up by the older actress who had been looking for a kiss. Someone had taken a picture, and it had made it onto the Japanese entertainment headlines. That whole mess had resulted in Kyoko thinking that he was some kind of playboy, but in reality, Ren was nothing of the sort! Even Kuon hadn't been a playboy. It had always been the girls he dated who dumped him, not the other way around.

It took lots of damage control to convince Kyoko that he had no romantic interest towards Kana, but Ren was eventually able to fall back into her good graces, although it seemed that their relationship had shifted permanently after the whole ordeal. Kyoko became a lot more reserved around him and frequently stressed that they had a strictly professional kohai and senpai relationship. Ren could tell she was trying to distance herself from him, but he was clueless in the true reason behind her actions.

The second time that Kijima almost ruined Ren's relationship with Kyoko was when Ren and Kijima were walking through LME and having a conversation together. Somehow, the topic of Kyoko had come up, and Kijima had broadcasted to the entire hallway that Ren had a crush on her. And guess who had been in the hallway at that exact time? None other than Mogami Kyoko.

She had taken Kijima's declaration of Ren's crush as a joke between Ren and Kijima, and she had been deeply hurt that they were laughing at her expense, almost as if implying that it was a joke that Ren would ever think of having feelings for her. Ren had tried to assure her otherwise, but she wouldn't accept anything he said. Afterwards, she began to avoid him and refused to talk to him when they did meet. Ren had been worried that she would never forgive him.

The third time that Kijima messed up Ren's relationship with Kyoko was when Kijima invited Ren out drinking again since he was so distraught over Kyoko ignoring him for so long. Ren was usually able to hold his liquor pretty well, but Kijima made him drink so much that Ren actually became drunk. Kijima has called Kyoko, and she had reluctantly come to Ren's aid and walked him back to his apartment complex, helping to relieve the haze on his mind due to the alcohol. However, in his drunken stupor, Ren had accidentally revealed his connection to her in the past as Corn. The next morning when he woke up, apart from the nasty hangover headache, Ren was met with a very angry Kyoko demanding explanations. In particular, she had been furious about Guam, and when Ren explained that he kissed her because he loved her, she had stormed out of his apartment, screaming that he was a liar since he was in love with Morizumi Kimiko, not her. Ren hadn't been able to stop her before she hailed a taxi and sped off into the city, away from him.

When Ren had gone into work the next day and seen Kijima, he had pulled the guy into an empty office, and Kuon almost came out and pummeled the poor guy. Luckily, Ren was able to reel Kuon in and only angrily yelled at Kijima about ruining all that he had worked for with Kyoko. For the next week, whenever Ren tried to talk to Kyoko, she would run away from him, and she even blocked his number after he tried calling her so many times. Ren was at a loss for how to mend their relationship, and he was worried that it was ruined forever.

The one time that Kijima fixed Ren's relationship with Kyoko was when he tricked them into finally talking with each other. He had sent Kyoko a message about free takoyaki in a certain empty office with a faulty lock while concurrently telling Ren that Maria-chan was waiting in said office to play with him. When the two had arrived in the office, Kijima had locked them both inside, and the faulty lock of the office made it so that neither could unlock the door from the inside. He had ordered them to sort everything out, or else he wouldn't let them out. It took two hours for Kyoko and Ren to finally clear up all their misunderstandings and realize that they were both hopelessly in love with the other. Kijima only let them out after his secret correspondent with access to the security cameras at LME told him that the two were making out in the office. When Kijima had opened the door with a shit-eating grin, Ren had immediately slammed the door closed again, telling Kijima to screw off.

When Kyoko and Ren ultimately held their wedding, Kijima was all too happy to share the crazy story of how he had been the one to finally bring the two clueless lovers together.


	8. The Three Fates

**This is probably the hardest prompt I've had to write for KyoRen Week 2019. I kinda just had an idea and ran with it, so I guess this is the product. I'm more than a week late, but here's the last prompt for KyoRen Week 2019: "fate".**

* * *

From the beginning of time, there had been three sisters who controlled the fates of humans. The first sister, Kyoko, spun the thread of life. She controlled man's destiny, determining what hardships a human would go through in their lifetime. The second sister, Kanae, was in charge of measuring the thread of life. The length of thread corresponded with a human's lifespan. The third sister, Chiori, was in charge of human death. When a human's thread was at its end, Chiori would choose the manner of their death and cut the thread of life.

Unfortunately, the sisters were not benevolent. As time went on, they became more cynical and produced fates that were more and more horrible. Something had to be done to remind them of the importance of their influence on the lives that they were in control of.

Thus, Takarada Lory, the ruler of all beings, decided to take action. He declared that the three sisters would learn the hardships that mortals had to go through in their lives. Each sister would be reborn as a mortal and would have their memories locked away until each turned eighteen years old. Once they regained their memories and were able to empathize with humanity, their powers would return, and they would be able to take their rightful place among the gods once again.

...

"Kyoko, you don't have to keep working. Takarada-san will make us mortals any minute now. What if you accidentally tie some mortal's fate to your own?" Kanae worried.

"Not possible. Takarada-san said that we're being reborn as Japanese citizens. I'm working on fates for Americans," Kyoko responded, continuing to spin her threads of fate. Once she was at the end of the measurement that Kanae had made, she picked up another thread for the next mortal.

"Hmmmm..what fate should I make for Hizuri Kuon?" Kyoko tapped her finger to her chin, trying to think of an idea.

"You better hurry up, or Hizuri Kuon will have an incomplete fate," Chiori urged. Kyoko stuck out her tongue at Chiori but got to work spinning the threads of fate for Hizuri Kuon. He would be born into a celebrity family, although his childhood would have lots of hardship as people bullied him for his mixed race and compared him to his famous father. The boy would eventually join gangs, and his suffering would culminate in the death of his best friend-

"Kyoko!" Kanae exclaimed, trying to get Kyoko to drop the thread, but it was too late. As the three sisters were swept up in a puff of smoke, Hizuri Kuon's unfinished thread of fate was still tied around Kyoko's finger.

...

While the Three Fates would be away on their experience as mortals, Lory would take over their duties. He was also in charge of writing the Three Fates' human fates. He maintained a disguise as a mortal man who was the president of LME in order to keep watch over the Three Fates. It was also quite easy to play with mortals' fate under the ruse of playing otome games, a seemingly common hobby for a man as rich and eccentric as he.

Chiori was subject to a crippling accident as a child actor which left a shameful scar that would never fade away. As she got older, Chiori would start to lose the love of her job, but near the end of her seventeen years, she would slowly start to regain that love of job. Lory had designed this fate for her in the hopes that she would learn the gravity of her job as the Fate in charge of human death and stop designing haphazard deaths for mortals like she was used to.

Kanae was put in a loving but big family. However, as she tried to follow her dreams and become an actress, she would face troubles due to a girl who constantly tried to make her fail. But with time, Kanae would succeed in her dreams. Lory hoped that Kanae's fate would inspire her to stop making such short and pitiful lives for mortals and instead try to measure longer lives.

Kyoko was the one to experience the most hardships in her mortal life in the hope that she would be able to empathize with the human suffering that she inflicted on mortals through her threads of fate. As a child, Kyoko's father was absent, and her mother was cold and uncaring, abandoning her child with a family friend. Kyoko grew up as friends with the family's son and quickly began to fall for him; however, after the boy and her ran away to Tokyo together, Kyoko eventually learned that the boy had been manipulating her kindness and treating her as a maid. Kyoko swore revenge on the boy in her sixteenth year and was the first Fate to join LME where Lory would be able to monitor her more closely. Kanae and Chiori were also extended invitations to LME shortly after.

Lory's plan would have worked out perfectly were it not for a certain man whose fate Lory later somehow found to be missing, meaning that anything was possible. Once Hizuri Kuon had been brought to Japan by Lory to remake himself (Lory had felt pitiful for the kid who had been given such a bad fate as a child), he had become Tsuruga Ren, the top actor at LME. For some reason, Ren and Kyoko seemed to be pulled together. After Kyoko was accepted into LME, even though her and Ren initially started off their relationship on the wrong foot, Lory watched as the two gradually became friends (although they would never admit to the title).

However, Lory soon found out after Katsuki's acting test that Ren had fallen in love with Kyoko. Deeply. That posed an unexpected problem to Lory's plans. Whereas he had been planning to have the Three Fates mysteriously disappear once all three had regained their memories, he knew that Ren was too close to Kyoko and would investigate were there to be a disappearance. Lory watched as the two became closer and closer.

The first to turn eighteen was Kanae. She had been filming a drama in America when she suddenly regained all her memories. After some thought, Kanae called Lory and told him that she wanted to finish her project before returning to her position as a Fate.

Chiori was the next to turn eighteen. She had no more ongoing projects since Box R and her variety show had just finished, so Chiori returned before her two sisters. LME held a small ceremony to honor the young actress who had mysteriously gotten into a car accident as a ruse to leave her mortal life behind. Lory was pleased to see that Chiori's mortal experience had indeed shaped her. She returned to her job with newfound vigor, or as much vigor as someone could have while deciding how mortals would die.

…

 _December 24_

Kyoko rushed around the kitchen, making sure that each dish was satisfactory for this year's Happy Grateful Party. She knew that her time was short and that someone would come look for her soon, so she needed to do as much as she could before that happened.

"Onee-sama, why are you in the kitchen right now?"

Kyoko paused in her conversation with a sous chef and turned to see Maria shaking her head at her.

"I was just making sure that everything was running smoothly," Kyoko smiled sheepishly. Maria strode over and took one of Kyoko's hands in her own.

"Onee-sama, you're turning eighteen soon! Ren-sama said that he had something important he wants to tell you, so come with me," Maria said, dragging Kyoko out of the kitchen towards an empty office of the Takarada mansion, despite her protests. When Maria opened the door, she immediately shoved Kyoko inside into a pair of arms and left. Kyoko looked up to see Ren, her longtime mentor and friend, and blushed as he righted her up.

"Maria-chan said you needed to speak with me?" Kyoko prompted him. Ren nodded.

"We've known each other for almost two years now, and I decided that I want to tell you my most well-guarded secrets before another year goes by, Mogami-san."

"Your secrets?" Kyoko cocked her head to the side, confused. Ren reached up and took the brown contacts out of his eyes, exposing his emerald eyes to Kyoko who gasped upon recognizing them.

"Y-You're…N-No way!"

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Kyoko-chan…"

"B-But why, Corn?"

Kyoko listened attentively as Ren explained that he was the son of Kuu and Julienna Hizuri. Ren told her of his childhood and how he had met her in Kyoto all those years ago, and Ren described how he had been bullied and discriminated against as a child. As Ren got around to talking about Rick and leaving his parents to come to Japan under a new name, Kyoko couldn't help but cry at how horrible Ren's life had been before becoming Tsuruga Ren.

"I really appreciate that you felt that I was trustworthy enough to know this secret of yours, Corn," Kyoko wiped away her tears.

"That isn't the last secret. I still have one more thing to tell you, Kyoko-chan," Ren replied, taking a deep breath and taking Kyoko's hands in his own. From the side of the room, the grandfather clock began to chime. In a few seconds, it would be midnight.

"Kyoko-chan, I truly don't know what my life would have been without you in it. You've helped me through more than you can imagine. Tonight, you even accepted all of my secrets. You are the most beautiful person, inside and out, that I've ever met," Ren smiled, the clock chiming for the seventh time in the background.

"R-Ren-san, what are you trying to say?" Kyoko blushed. Chime 8. Chime 9.

"Kyoko-chan…" Ren trailed off, looking directly into her eyes. Chime 10. Chime 11.

"I love you."

The clock struck twelve, and as Kyoko heard Ren's confession, her memories also came flooding back. Kyoko's legs gave out from under her, and she fell to the ground as Ren bent down over her with worry. "Kyoko!"

Too many things were swimming through her head. As Kyoko looked at Ren, she realized something. She was feeling a massive amount of guilt as she remembered the horrible fate that she herself had given to Hizuri Kuon. _She_ was the one responsible for all of the suffering that Ren had gone through. His bullying, Rick… All of this was her fault.

Kyoko's eyes watered up, and she instantly stood up and ran out of the door, leaving behind a stunned Ren. When she made it to the main hall, a group of people yelled "Surprise" at her, but she sprinted past the surprised onlookers into the snowing winter night, hailing a taxi cab and speeding off into Tokyo.

...

The Darumaya couple had been surprised that Kyoko was back so early, but they didn't stop her when Kyoko immediately went to her room and shut the door. The whole night, Kyoko curled herself up in her blankets, trying to make sense of everything that she had learned. She was a Fate. She had been in charge of designing Kuon's fate. All of the suffering that he went through and he had told her about was because she weaved those events into his fate. And Ren loved her. He didn't know the truth. He wouldn't love her if he knew.

But that didn't excuse what Kyoko had known about herself for the past year. She loved him back. Ever since Katsuki's acting test, she had fallen for him. She had never believed it was possible that he would love her back, but now that she knew he did, they could never be together. Kyoko didn't know if she could ever look him in the eye again after knowing that she was the cause of all his misery. And even if she wasn't guilty about that, there was still the matter of her immortality versus Ren being a mortal...

"Kyoko-chan!" The Okami knocked on her door. Kyoko came out of her blanket cave and was surprised to see that it was already day. She supposed that time moved faster when you'd already been alive for hundreds of millennia.

"Yes?" Kyoko answered back.

"The president of your company is here to speak with you!"

"I'm coming!" Kyoko immediately shoved her blankets away and started to get dressed. Lory. He wasn't just the president of LME. He was the ruler of the gods. He was the one who had sent her here to the mortal realm. Once she was ready, Kyoko hurried down the stairs to see Lory sitting at the table, having a pot of tea. He looked over to the Okami who nodded and left the room to give them privacy. Kyoko took the seat opposite Lory.

"You turned eighteen," Lory started off.

"I did," Kyoko responded softly.

"Amamiya-san already returned to her job as one of the Three Fates. Kotonami-san was going to return once she finishes her current projects. When do you want to return?" Lory asked.

"I..." Kyoko started off, "I'm not sure..."

"Is it that you're not sure _when_ you want to return or _if_ you want to return?"

Kyoko immediately knew the answer to that question and bowed her head in shame. "I don't know if I want to return."

"It's because you fell in love, isn't it?"

Kyoko's expression morphed into one of immense guilt. "H-He told me that he loved me yesterday before I regained my memories."

Lory's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect Ren to ever reveal his feelings. "Then you should be happy, right? Your feelings are requited. Why do you look so crestfallen instead?"

"H-He also told me of his past. He told me why he came to Japan and his real name. Before I became mortal, I was spinning the thread of fate for Hizuri Kuon. I'm the one who's responsible for all of the suffering he went through," Kyoko's eyes teared up.

"When we acted as the Heel siblings, I saw glimpses of the darkness that he struggles through daily. When he told me of America's entertainment industry and Rick-san, I couldn't help but think to myself 'Who would make him suffer so greatly'? I n-never th-thought that I could be the one..." Kyoko sniffled, the tears falling down her face now. Lory took a handkerchief out of his pocket and passed it to her. Kyoko took it with a word of thanks before dabbing away at her tears.

"This is why I wanted you to experience a mortal life. Recently, you had started to weave such sorrowful lives, and I wanted you to be able to empathize with humanity," Lory said. Kyoko nodded.

"About a year ago, when I first found out your feelings for Ren, I knew that it was a possibility that you might not want to return to your job as a Fate."

"In all the millennia that I've been alive, I never knew how important love could be to humans. Now that I've experienced it, I know just how important that emotion is. I would even give up my immortality for love now, but I don't deserve it. I don't deserve Tsuruga-san... It isn't fair to him."

"Mogami-kun, you can't change what happened in the past. However, you have the capacity to make up for what happened. You might have caused Ren sorrow in his past, but I know for a fact that in these past two years, you've brought him more joy than he ever thought was possible just by being you. Every human has to experience some bad parts of life, but the good moments in life most often outweigh those bad moments. If you really want to, you can give up your immortality and stay."

"B-But what about my job as a Fate?"

"I had always believed that it was necessary to design one's fate before they were born, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe it would be nice to just leave a mortal's fate up to chance."

"Am I even fated to be with him, or will he just leave me when he finds someone better?"

"As far as I know, neither of your fates were ever set in stone. I can't tell you your future for certain. In love, sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith," Lory smiled.

...

Kyoko finished her shooting for the day before checking her phone to see multiple missed calls from Kanae. She mentally checked the time in America where Kanae was before calling her back. On two rings, Kanae answered immediately.

"Mo! What is this I hear about you giving up your immortality?!" Kanae yelled. Kyoko looked down in guilt. So Lory had told her of Kyoko's decision.

"Moko-san...I...I can't just leave..."

"Why not?! Just finish up your remaining projects and it'll be fine!"

"No...it's not my projects that are keeping me here. I-It's Tsuruga-san."

"What?"

"Moko-san, he confessed to me yesterday..."

"And you love him back?"

"Y-Yes..."

Kyoko heard Kanae's long sigh over the phone. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am."

"It's not like I'm going to say no. It's your life..."

"I am going to miss you though..." Kanae added on quietly.

"Moko-sannnn..." Kyoko sniffled.

"Mo, don't use that tone of voice or I won't be able to say goodbye…"

"Moko-san, thank you so much for everything. I'm going to miss you too," Kyoko tried to keep the tears from falling.

"Mo, I know. Have a good life, Kyoko. You deserve it," Kanae said before ending the call. Kyoko looked down at the phone in her hand and looked back through her call history at the ten missed calls from a certain other person. She pressed dial, and he picked up after only one ring.

"Kyoko."

"Ren-san…I'm sorry for running away yesterday," Kyoko started off.

"I'm sorry for springing such a confession on you-"

"Ren-san, before you say anything, I need to talk with you in person. Can we meet tonight?"

"Sure? Where are you right now? I can come pick you up."

…

After Ren had picked her up in his car, the two had begun the drive to Ren's apartment in silence. Kyoko had firmly said she wanted to talk in person, although the conversation wasn't one to happen in the car, and the familiar surroundings of his apartment would give her a bit of comfort for what she wanted to say.

When they rode the elevator up and finally arrived, Kyoko immediately went over to the couch and sat down, prompting Ren to do the same.

"Tsuruga-san, I don't deserve your love," Kyoko began.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"You don't know everything about me."

"I'm not averse to you telling me anything, Kyoko-chan."

"You wouldn't believe me anyways."

"I want to know, Kyoko-chan, if you would let me."

Kyoko sighed and took a deep breath. "Yesterday, at midnight I regained my memories of hundreds of millennia. I used to be immortal, but I was sent here as a mortal to learn a lesson. I am one of three Fates. Kanae and Chiori are the other two fates, in charge of measuring mortal lives and ending mortal lives, respectively. I was the Fate in charge of weaving mortals' threads of fate and deciding what events happened in their lives. Before I was made mortal, I was just spinning the thread of fate for Hizuri Kuon... I weaved those horrible events into your life. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. I don't deserve your love," Kyoko put her head into her hands, tears starting to fall. Ren put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes focused on a fixed point as he tried to work through everything she had told him.

"Kyoko-chan…"

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"I will say, it's a bit hard to believe…"

"I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"I never said that, Kyoko-chan, but I don't understand why all of this would make you undeserving of my love."

"I-I hurt you so much…"

"From what you were saying, it sounds like that was your job. It wasn't just me, but every mortal. It's not like you hurt me specifically."

"B-But-"

"Kyoko-chan, it was your job. Everyone goes through struggles in their lives, and mine just happened to be those that you wrote into my fate. I can't blame you for what happened before you even knew who I was."

"I don't deserve to be with you. I don't deserve this wretched feeling."

"Are you saying…you return my feelings?"

Kyoko slowly nodded her head but yelped as Ren suddenly engulfed her in his arms. "If you've been alive for hundreds of millennia, I'm just glad that I was the one you fell in love with," Ren smiled brightly before his smile suddenly faded as he realized something. "But then…you're immortal still…"

"I gave up my immortal life to be with you…" Kyoko replied.

"You gave it up? But Kyoko, it's immortality-"

"I might have had immortality, but I would rather live a short life if I get to be with you…"

Ren leaned down and stole her lips. Kyoko, after her initial surprise, started to kiss him back. Ren eventually pulled back and smiled at her.

"So I guess it was fate that I ended up with you?" Ren asked, but Kyoko shook her head.

"I never finished writing your fate, and I never had a set fate after my eighteenth birthday. I have no idea what happens when a mortal's fate isn't written..."

"I guess we'll have to find out then," Ren smiled.

* * *

 **Yep, definitely one of my weirder one shots, but hey, I finished! I know it was a bit all over the place, but I hope it was at least an interesting read... Thank you all for such wonderful comments on the rest of my one shots! Happy end to KyoRen Week 2019!**


	9. Ren's Tattoo

**Here's a short drabble that I wrote a while ago, inspired by an interview with Derek Shepherd talking about the bell tattoo on his ring finger.**

* * *

"Welcome to Late Night with Ai! I'm your host, Ai Takahashi, and today I have a very special guest. Back from his honeymoon with his lovely wife, Kyoko Mogami, please welcome Ren, I-I mean Kuon Hizuri!"

The audience roared in applause as Kuon came onto the stage and waved, his blonde hair and emerald eyes on full display. He sat down in the plump leather chair opposite Ai and smiled politely at her.

"Japan still calls my father Shuuhei, so I'm fine if you still call me Ren Tsuruga," Ren smiled.

"Tsuruga-san, it's great to have you on the show! How was your honeymoon?" Ai asked.

"I got to spend two weeks alone with my wife, so it was the best two weeks of my life," Ren smiled heavenly, causing all the women in the audience to swoon.

"Where did you go?" Ai asked.

"We went back to America to visit my parents, and then we toured all around California before heading to Hawaii to spend the rest of our honeymoon together alone," Kuon answered.

"How are our beloved Kuu and Julie Hizuri?"

"They're still very active and have many movies and shows that they're working on, and I had expected them to try to get us to stay longer in California since I haven't seen them for so long, but they got mad at me when I said I wanted to stay for a week. They kicked me out of the house on day three and told me I couldn't come back until I gave them a grandchild," Ren chuckled, causing the audience to laugh as well.

"Are you and your wife expecting anytime soon?"

"Not yet, but we hope so in the near future," Ren smiled.

"I've been wondering ever since you came on stage, where's your wedding ring?" Ai asked.

"I didn't want to constantly have to take off my wedding ring for jobs, so I decided to get a small tattoo on my ring finger instead. It's easy to cover with makeup, and I don't have to be afraid of losing it."

Ren held up his hand, and a camera zoomed into what looked to be a small pair of wings on his ring finger where a ring would usually go.

"Why wings?" Ai wondered.

"They're fairy wings. I met my wife when we were children in Kyoto and she mistook me for a fairy. We were only together for one week, but then I was fortunate enough to meet her again 10 years later," Ren smiled at the memory.

"That's so cute! You two are truly living a fairytale!" Ai exclaimed.

"Yes we are," Ren replied with a smile.


	10. Secret Santa

**This particular Christmas oneshot was inspired by "A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish" after wondering what it would be like if Skip Beat! characters worked in Santaland for the holidays. I hope you enjoy, and merry Christmas Eve!**

* * *

Kyoko shouldn't have been surprised when Lory forced the Love Me girls to work a special job for the holiday season. This was probably because of that one day he had seen them complaining about Christmas music starting to be played too early in the year. He had said that they were losing the holiday spirit and needed some more Christmas cheer in their lives, so he had forced them to work as elves in LME's Santaland, acting as Santa's helpers when little kids wanted pictures with him and standing at the entrances to welcome guests into Santaland.

Both Kanae and Chiori hated the job, but Kyoko couldn't help but feel a little happy to be spreading some Christmas cheer to the children. It was exciting to see the wide grins on the kids' faces as they talked to Santa.

However, as life would have it, one day the guy playing Santa slipped on some ice. It must have been hard to see past the beard, and that suit would not have helped his balance. Santa was promptly rushed to the hospital. Luckily it had happened after hours, but the next day a replacement Santa took his place. Kyoko first met him when she was donning her elf ears for the day in the back room.

"Sorry I didn't know that someone was already in here."

Kyoko looked in the mirror to see a reflection of the new Santa standing in the doorway. He was way taller than the previous Santa, and Kyoko could tell that this guy had to stuff more pillows under his suit to represent Santa's belly since he was leaner than the previous guy. Underneath the white hair and Santa hat, Kyoko could see that this Santa had brown eyes that seemed vaguely familiar... He held his red coat in his hand, trying to reach the back of Santa's shirt.

"Actually, could you do me a favor? I'm having trouble buttoning the back of my suit. Could you help me?" Santa asked her.

"Sure, but you'll have to sit down so I can reach the buttons," Kyoko automatically agreed. Santa found a stool and sat down on it, allowing Kyoko to button the back up.

"All done," Kyoko smiled.

"Thanks. You would think that they would put the buttons in the front so that the suit is easier to put on," Santa smiled back at her.

"I agree. They should really make costumes more user-friendly. It took me a lot of practice to be able to put on a mascot costume by myself for the variety show that I work on since the zipper was in the back," Kyoko said.

"I didn't know you worked on a variety show."

"Y-You know who I am?"

"I do."

"What? How? Have we met before?"

"Of course. Do you not remember me?"

Kyoko tried to think of who Santa could be. With the big red suit and white beard and hair covering his face, Kyoko couldn't recognize him.

"I can't tell who you are with the Santa costume on," Kyoko finally responded.

"Santa! We need you out here right now!" An elf barged into the room.

"Coming," Santa responded, giving Kyoko a small wave before disappearing with the elf outside. Kyoko was left wondering who Santa could possibly be.

...

Kyoko left the dressing room a few minutes later to assume her position as an elf welcoming guests into Santaland before Lory came up to her, dressed like Frosty the Snowman, complete with a corncob pipe and a button nose.

"Mogami-kun! I need your help!"

"What is it?"

"The elf that used to help Santa got sick. Can you take over his position?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Just make sure that the kids aren't harming Santa and take pictures if parents ask you to."

"Okay, I guess I can..."

"Great! Let's go over there right now!" Lory smiled, grabbing Kyoko's arm and dragging her towards Santa's chair before she knew what was going on. He set her right next to Santa, who narrowed his eyes at the eccentric president.

"Santa, I've found you a new assistant elf," Lory grinned.

"How wonderful," Santa smiled brightly at Lory.

"I'll leave you two to do your jobs then. Merry Christmas!" Lory danced away like Frosty.

"So..." Kyoko cleared her throat, trying to start up a conversation whilst they waited for Santaland to open. "You know who I am?"

"Of course."

"Then can you tell me who you are? I can't tell with the beard and everything," Kyoko tried to look more closely at Santa.

"Unfortunately, I'm under strict orders that I can't reveal my name or take off my costume until Christmas when Santaland closes. But you can just call me Santa for now," Santa smiled at her.

"Ah. I understand, Santa-san. Is there a reason why you have to hide your identity?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"Who knew Santa was so secretive?" Kyoko giggled. Santa laughed along with her.

"So what are you allowed to tell me about yourself then? Nothing that would reveal your identity, right? Can you at least tell me your favorite holiday?" Kyoko wondered.

"Christmas."

"Ha, I should have guessed that. But why Christmas? I mean, other than the fact that you're Santa Claus..."

"Well to be honest, Christmas was the one holiday that my family always celebrated together. My parents would frequently be away because of their jobs, but they always made sure to take time off on the week of Christmas. I remember going shopping for presents with my mom and watching my dad cook holiday dinner on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, we would watch those classic Christmas movies while drinking hot chocolate together," Santa smiled, reminiscing over the memory.

"Wow...that sounds really nice. Do you still keep up the family tradition?"

"No, unfortunately not," Santa looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kyoko responded.

"It's fine. At least I still have the memories. How about you? What's your favorite holiday?"

"Hmmm... I guess New Years? I liked visiting the shrine when I was younger, and New Years' signals a new beginning," Kyoko said as she saw the gates to Santaland opening. Those kids could be ferocious, and Kyoko knew they didn't have much time until the kids reached them.

"Oh! We're open! Let's talk later. I'm going to organize the line of kids before it gets too hectic."

...

The next day, Kyoko found herself standing next to Santa as they waited for Santaland to open again.

"You're really good with the kids. That Santa voice is really what I would imagine Santa to sound like. How are you able to do that?" Kyoko wondered.

"I told you yesterday how I watched lots of Christmas movies as a kid. I just try to imitate the Santas from there."

"It's really impressive."

"It's not. You could probably do it too."

"No, there's no way I could do a Santa impression as well as you do," Kyoko laughed.

"Why not? You're already an incredible actress."

Kyoko couldn't help but blush from the praise. "Y-You've seen my acting?"

"Of course. We've met before, remember?"

"So you tell me, Secret Santa," Kyoko responded. Santa burst out into a laugh. Kyoko's lips quirked up in a smile.

"Try your best Santa impression," Santa encouraged her.

"Do you promise not to laugh at my impression?"

"I promise not to laugh at it," Santa replied. Kyoko took a deep breath and tried to channel her inner Santa Claus.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas, kids!" Kyoko said in a low voice filled with warmth. Her impression wasn't that bad, but seeing tiny Kyoko try to act like Santa Claus in her cute elf costume made Santa's lip quiver as he tried to hold in his laugh. However, Santa ultimately couldn't hold it in and burst out in laughter.

"Hey! You promised not to laugh!" Kyoko pouted.

"I'm not laughing at your impersonation. It was pretty good," Santa said in between laughs.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"You looked so cute while using your Santa voice," Santa smiled at her. Kyoko couldn't help the blush that came to her cheeks, but she had no time to dwell on the sudden racing of her heart as she noticed that Santaland was opening for the day. Why were their interactions always cut so short?

…

The next day, Kyoko was in a particularly bad mood. Earlier, she had a run in with Sho who had barged into the Darumaya demanding to see her. Apparently he was leaving on tour for a few weeks and had wanted to see her before he left. Kyoko had laughed at his false show of care for her, and he had tried to force yet another kiss on her again. Luckily Kyoko was able to sidestep the kiss and chase him out of the Darumaya with a butcher knife, but she had been put in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit down," Santa wondered, noticing her quietness.

"Yeah. Sorry. I just didn't have a good morning."

"Do you want to sit on Santa's lap and tell Santa about it?" He asked, causing Kyoko to laugh.

"I'm a bit too old to sit on your lap, don't you think?"

"Then do you at least want to talk about it?" Santa asked. For some reason, Kyoko felt that she could tell Santa almost anything. She didn't even know who he was, but she felt like she knew him very well.

"Well, there's this guy... I actually followed him to Tokyo so that he could live out his dream of being a singer, but when he became famous, he threw me away as if I was only ever his maid. But for some reason he still likes to annoy me whenever he can. This morning, he visited me to tell me that he was leaving on a tour, and he tried to give me a goodbye kiss. I stopped him and chased him out before he could," Kyoko frowned.

"Has Fu-this childhood friend of yours done something like this before too?"

"Yes."

"But you don't like him back?"

"What do you mean like him back? He's my enemy! I would never take him back even if we were the last two people on Earth!"

Kyoko didn't notice the small smile that graced Santa's face upon that comment. "Sounds like your childhood friend would definitely be on the naughty list then," Santa responded, causing Kyoko to laugh.

"So what about me? Am I on your naughty or nice list?" Kyoko smirked.

"Definitely the nice list. I checked it twice," Santa replied, causing Kyoko to laugh yet again.

"What's your Christmas wish, Mogami-san?" Santa asked her.

"I don't really have a Christmas wish."

"Surely there must be something?"

"Well...there is...but you're going to think that it's stupid."

"I promise I won't."

Kyoko bit her lip as she debated whether or not to tell him. She thought of Santa as a friend, and he was just so easy to talk to. She knew he wouldn't judge her if she were to tell him.

"I want to be as great of an actor as Tsuruga Ren."

Whatever Santa had been expecting her to say was definitely not what had come out of her mouth. He was shocked into silence, causing Kyoko to blabber more in her nervousness.

"I know I still have a long way to go, but one day I want to be his equal. This is my ultimate goal in the entertainment industry."

"W-Why Tsuruga Ren out of all people?"

That was an easy answer. Kyoko wanted to be Ren's equal so that she could have a chance with him, but even if Kyoko could admit her Christmas wish to Santa, there was no way she could tell him about her feelings towards Ren. She would take this secret to her grave.

"I want to be his equal since he's the best actor in Japan," Kyoko replied, not mentioning the true reason behind her wish.

"Ah, I see..." Santa replied. Kyoko thought for a moment that he seemed a little disappointed, but that was quickly covered up by a smile.

"I believe that your Christmas wish will come true."

"That's nice of you to say, but I know that I'll probably never be as great as Tsuruga Ren."

"No, I know for sure that your Christmas wish will come true one day. You're closer to achieving it than you think."

Kyoko couldn't help but smile graciously at Santa. "That's very kind of you to say. Thank you for cheering me up, Secret Santa," Kyoko smiled.

...

After Santaland closed for the day, Kyoko went back to the dressing room. There, she found Kanae taking off her elf ears.

"Moko-san!" Kyoko exclaimed, bounding over to her in preparation for a hug. Kanae ducked out of the way effortlessly.

"Mo, how many times do I have to tell you not to hug me like that?!"

"But Moko-San, best friends should hug each other!"

"Who said we were best friends?!"

"Moko-san, how could you say that?! I thought we were best friends," Kyoko's eyes filled with tears. Kanae sighed.

"Mo, do you want to get dinner together then?"

"Yes! Of course!" Kyoko instantly cheered up, beginning to take off her elf ears. She didn't notice when Santa walked into the dressing room since she had been sitting behind a mirror on the other side of the room.

"Hey, you're the new Santa, right?" Kanae asked.

"I am."

"Hmmm, you look kind of familiar. Have we met before?" Kanae asked.

"We have."

"Then who are you?"

"Hey! If you can't tell me, then you can't tell Moko-san!" Kyoko frowned as she peeked out from behind her mirror. Santa's lips curled into a smile.

"I can't tell either of you until Christmas Day," Santa responded with a small smile.

"You two know each other?" Kanae wondered, looking between them.

"I was assigned to help Santa-san when he started to work here," Kyoko replied.

"I'm glad that you're the elf helping me, Mogami-san," Santa smiled. Kyoko's cheeks heated up at his comment, and Kanae raised an eyebrow at this reaction.

"Oh, that's really nice of you to say, but I'm only as competent as everyone else."

"I have to get going, but I'll see you two tomorrow?" Santa waved.

"See you tomorrow!" Kyoko exclaimed.

…

The two girls ultimately decided to eat at the Darumaya. The Okami smiled while she took their orders and shot Kyoko down when she insisted to help in the kitchen, saying that she should enjoy the time with her friend.

"So you're working with the new Santa?" Kanae started off.

"Yeah, he's really nice."

"So you like him?"

"Of course!"

"So you have a crush on him?"

Kyoko had been sipping her tea when Kanae asked that question and spit into her cup. "What?!"

"You were blushing when he talked to you earlier."

"M-Moko-san! W-We're just friends!"

"Sure, and Tsuruga-san is just your senpai."

"Tsuruga-san isjust my senpai…"

"You and I both know that isn't true."

"Moko-san…"

"Come on, why don't you just tell him how you feel already?"

"I can't, Moko-san. Tsuruga-san would never be with a girl like me. It'll never happen."

"Then what about Santa?"

"I told you, we're just friends!" Kyoko repeated. Kanae gave her a knowing glance, and Kyoko couldn't help but crumble under it. She tried to keep her mouth shut, worried of what it could say.

"You know you can have crushes on two people, right?"

"You can?"

"Of course. You can have crushes on both Tsuruga-san and Santa-san."

"Moko-san, don't say something like that," Kyoko covered her face with her hands as her cheeks warmed up.

"I think Santa likes you too."

"MOKO-SAN!"

"When I saw you two talking earlier, it seemed like you both liked each other."

"That's ridiculous."

"Really?"

"S-Santa probably already has a Mrs. Claus," Kyoko tried to argue.

"Why don't you ask him then?"

"Moko-san, I can't! That's embarrassing!"

"Fine, then I'll ask him next time I see him."

"Then he'll think that you're the one that likes him!"

"Okay, then you ask him."

"Moko-san…"

Kanae shook her head at Kyoko but suddenly looked to the television of the Darumaya as the Okami switched it to a talk show with a particular guest.

"Any plans for the holidays?"The talk show host asked.

"I'm taking a short break until the new year."

Kyoko's head whipped around as she heard the telltale deep voice. Sure enough, Tsuruga-san was the guest star for the night.

"When was the last time you talked with Tsuruga-san?" Kanae wondered.

"I haven't talked with him for a few weeks," Kyoko responded.

"You're not celebrating with anyone?"The host on the television asked.

"Well, I am attending the Happy Grateful Party that Maria Takarada invited me to."

"How's the Happy Grateful Party coming along?" Kanae wondered.

"I haven't had as much time to plan it this year with my job at Santaland, but Maria-chan says it's going well. I still have a few more invites to hand out."

"What about you invite Santa?"

"Oh! I should! I'm grateful that he's been good company to me these past two weeks."

"Good company, huh? Maybe he can finally show you who he really is on Christmas Day."

...

When Kyoko stayed later one day from her job at Santaland to help clean up, she found Yashiro standing outside the gates.

"Yashiro-san?" Kyoko was surprised to see him.

"Ah, Kyoko-chan! I guess it's true that Takarada-san forced the Love Me girls to work at Santaland. How are you today?"

"I'm fine. Is there a reason why you're here today?"

"Well-"

"I wanted to check out Santaland," A deep voice interrupted whatever Yashiro was going to say.

"Ts-Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko tried to will away the heat flowing to her cheeks.

"Hello Mogami-san," Ren smiled at her.

"W-Why are you here-"

"How long have you worked at Santaland, Mogami-san?" Ren interrupted her.

"Ever since the beginning of December," Kyoko replied.

"How is your job? Do you like it?"

"I do. It's nice to see the children with such enthusiasm about Christmas. And I actually made a new friend! You should meet him!"

"Who is this friend?"

"Secret Santa!" Kyoko smiled.

"Santa's your friend?"

"Well not the real Santa, but the Santa who works here," Kyoko clarified.

"Wait, isn't Santa Re-" Yashiro began to say before suddenly crying out in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry Yashiro-san, I didn't mean to step on your foot," Ren apologized.

"So Mogami-san, what were you saying about Santa?" Ren continued his line of questioning.

"Maybe Santa-san is still here! You should meet him! I think you would like him!" Kyoko exclaimed, about to run into Santaland to find Santa before Ren grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Actually Mogami-san, I have to get going right now. Maybe next time. I'll see you at the Happy Grateful Party?"

"Y-You're coming?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world," Ren smiled.

"Then I'll see you there!" Kyoko smiled. Ren and Yashiro said goodbye to her before walking to Yashiro's car together. Once they were securely inside the car, Yashiro turned to Ren with a frown.

"What are you trying to accomplish by lying to Kyoko-chan like this?"

"I'm not lying to her. I'm only hiding my identity because that's what Boss told me to do. Besides, it's better that she doesn't know it's me. She's a lot more open with Santa."

"I don't understand how she still hasn't figured it out yet," Yashiro sighed.

"What can I say? The suit makes me look 100 pounds heavier."

...

This job as Santa was definitely not what Ren had expected to be doing during his two weeks of downtime around Christmas. What would people say if they found out that Tsuruga Ren was the new santa at Santaland?

Ren didn't mind the kids sitting on his lap or the gigantic costume. He didn't care that one kid even threw up on him one time. However, Ren couldn't stand Lory's incessant meddling as Kyoko was stationed next to him every single day.

When Kyoko hadn't recognized him the first day, Ren had decided to keep the charade up, especially since Lory had told him that he could not let anyone know his identity under any circumstances. They quickly became friends, even if Kyoko couldn't figure out who he was. Ren was happy that Kyoko was acting more casual with him as Santa, not putting him on that unreachable pedestal and treating him as a divine being like she usually did.

However, Ren was having a hard time not looking over at Kyoko when he had a kid in his lap. He could see her out of the corner of his eye, and he knew that Lory had placed her there for that exact reason. She wore a cute elf outfit, with a green Santa hat and candy cane stockings covered by red boots. Her cute ears were pointed, and they stuck out from her auburn hair.

Ren frequently talked with Kyoko before Santaland opened each day. It was amusing whenever she called him Santa-san. He enjoyed talking with her.

"Santa-san!" Kyoko smiled at him as she saw him one morning.

"Good morning, Mogami-san," Ren smiled back.

"I was wondering if you had any plans on Christmas Eve..."

If Ren didn't know any better, he would have mistaken her shy smile as an invite for a date, but Ren knew that it wasn't possible. He was already too used to the disappointment.

"I know it's quite sudden with Christmas Eve only being three days away, but I wanted to invite you to the Happy Grateful Party that the President's granddaughter and I host every year. It's at the Takarada Mansion, and I would be really happy if you could come," Kyoko said, pulling a red card from her bag and handing it to him. Ren had received one from Yashiro a week ago, so he briefly glanced at the card even though he already knew what it said.

"A prince and princess ball. I like the theme."

"I know, right? Just imagining the beautiful dresses and suits that people will wear makes me excited!"

"Well I'm afraid I wouldn't fit in a suit unless it was quadruple XL and red," Ren joked, putting a hand on the plush Santa belly. Kyoko giggled.

"Well actually, I was kind of hoping that you would come without the Santa costume..."

"How will you recognize me if I'm not wearing the costume though?"

"Oh...I didn't think about that..."

Ren watched as Kyoko tapped her finger to her chin in thought. "What if you take off the beard now so that I can see your face, Secret Santa?"

"You know the rules. I can't take the costume off."

"Ah, you're right..." Kyoko sighed dejectedly.

"What about I make you a promise? At midnight, I'll be waiting outside in the garden. You can meet me there. It'll be Christmas Day, so I won't have to hide myself anymore. I'll be there without the costume."

"How did you know that the Takarada mansion has a garden?"

"I...I assumed that all mansions have gardens," Ren quickly lied to cover up his slip.

"I guess that could work..."

"Then I shall see you at midnight, my princess," Ren smiled.

"Y-Your princess? Won't Mrs. Claus feel jealous if she heard you calling me that?"

"Mrs. Claus?"

"You know...y-your girlfriend?" Kyoko clarified.

"I don't have one."

"Really? I would have thought someone like you would have girls lining up for him."

"Why? Do girls really like men with bellies like this?" Ren pointed to the pillow belly he was currently sporting. Kyoko laughed.

"No, I just thought that you're so kind that lots of girls would like you," Kyoko smiled.

Well that was an unexpected answer. Ren was so used to Kyoko calling him a playboy instead. Without thinking, Ren asked, "Does that mean you like me?"

Ren watched as Kyoko slowly turned red. He shouldn't have asked that. What if he had just ruined her trust in Santa?

"Uh-Uhm..I don't know..." Kyoko replied honestly. Ren perked up at her answer, glad that it wasn't a downright rejection. He should have stopped here so that he didn't scare her away any further. However, his heart wouldn't let him stop this line of questioning.

"So how do you know that girls would like me for my kindness? Are you saying that was a lie?"

"No! You're very sweet and really easy to talk to, but I just don't know if I like you like that..." Kyoko replied. Ren thought that he was being manipulative, but he couldn't stop his next question.

"So why don't you like me?" Ren asked.

"I do like you! Well, maybe not romantically, but that's only because I have someone else in my heart already!" Kyoko blabbered, slapping her hand on her mouth as she let her inner thoughts slip out. Careful practice allowed Ren to maintain a calm facade even though his jaw felt like dropping to the floor.

"You like someone else...Who is he?" Ren wondered. It couldn't be Fuwa since Kyoko had ruled him out before. Was it her new costar Koga? Or was it someone Ren would least expect? What if it was Yashiro-san?!

"You're going to laugh at me if I tell you who it is," Kyoko covered her face with her hands.

"Why would I laugh at you?"

"Because I have absolutely no chance with him."

Absolutely no chance? Who could this mystery man be? Did Ren even know who he was?

"Why would you have no chance with him? Any guy would be lucky to be with you," Ren said honestly, causing Kyoko's cheeks to grow redder than they already were.

"He has so many other girls he can choose from. I'm nothing in comparison to them. He's one of Japan's sexiest bachelors. He wouldn't go for a boring girl like me with no sex appeal."

Wait a second... One of Japan's sexiest bachelors? Who else on that list did Kyoko hang out with enough to develop a crush on? Was it actually her costar Hiromune Koga-

"How could I let this happen again? You weren't supposed to know! It's already bad enough that Hiromune-san bullies me about it!" Kyoko wailed.

It wasn't Hiromune Koga?! Who else fit Kyoko's descriptions? The only other person that Ren could think of was himself!

Wait. Himself... Ren had never dared to hope that Kyoko would love him back, but what if she did?!

"Is it Tsuruga Ren?" Ren asked, holding his breath in nervous anticipation of her answer. Kyoko's face morphed into an expression of disbelief as her cheeks reddened.

"H-How did you...Is it really that obvious?! How do so many people guess it so easily?!" Kyoko wailed.

Ren wanted to take off his disguise right then and there so that he could scoop Kyoko into his arms and kiss her, but he had already come this far. He could wait a few more days.

"Why do you like him?" Ren wondered.

"I swear it's not because of his looks! I'm not a shallow girl like a lot of the other girls that are in love with Tsuruga Ren... I initially hated him, and I never wanted to fall in love again. I'm not even really sure why I like him, but I just know that whenever I'm able to spend time with him, I always feel happy. He can brighten my day with just one small conversation, and he's always so kind, even to those who he doesn't particularly like. I don't know how it happened, but I fell in love with him," Kyoko explained, hanging her head. Ren's cheeks reddened in a blush, but Kyoko didn't notice since his cheeks were already rosy from Santa's makeup.

"Have I ever told you my Christmas wish, Mogami-san?"

"I don't think so. What is it?"

"There's this girl that I'm in love with. It's actually her birthday on Christmas Day. My Christmas wish is to be with her."

For a second, Kyoko thought that Santa was talking about her, but she realized that even if her birthday was on Christmas, she had never told this to Santa. He wouldn't know, so he must be talking about another girl.

"Who is this girl?" Kyoko wondered.

"I can't tell you."

"Hey, I told you about who I liked! Now you have to return the favor!" Kyoko pouted.

"I'll tell you when I see you at the Happy Grateful Party," Ren smiled.

"Why do you have to wait to tell me?"

"It's a secret."

"Ah. Another one of Secret Santa's many secrets that will be unveiled to me on Christmas Day."

"I promise that I'll tell you everything on Christmas, Mogami-san."

...

When Christmas Eve finally arrived, Santaland was the busiest it had ever been. Kyoko was already exhausted by closing time that she didn't even register that this was the last time she would be working with Santa until he said he would see her at the Happy Grateful Party.

"Wait! This is our last day working together!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"For now. But I have a feeling we'll work together again in the future."

"W-We should take a picture together! For memory's sake," Kyoko said.

"Sure. Do you want to take it on your phone or my phone?"

"My phone is fine," Kyoko replied, pulling out her phone from a pocket on her elf costume. She held the phone out in front of them, trying to capture both of them in the frame. Ren decided to take the phone and hold it out with his longer arm. Kyoko gave him a grateful smile and smiled for the camera.

"3...2...1..." Ren counted off before pressing the button to take the picture. He pressed the photo album button to see how the photo had turned out.

"It looks good," Ren remarked.

"I agree. Did you accidentally take two?" Kyoko wondered, swiping her phone to the right to see the next recent photo. However, instead of being greeted by a selfie of the two of them, Kyoko swiped away immediately as she noticed that it was the picture she had taken of Ren sleeping. She hoped Santa hadn't seen that.

"You must be pretty close to Tsuruga Ren if you were able to take a photo like that."

"Noooo! Please don't think that I'm a stalker! He was just sleeping so peacefully with that pillow that I just found myself taking a photo. If you know him, please don't tell him I have that photo!" Kyoko begged. Ren laughed at the irony.

"I promise I won't tell him."

Kyoko sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"So I'll see you tonight?" Ren asked.

"Yes! I'll meet you in the garden at midnight!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"I'm looking forward to it," Ren smiled. He waved her goodbye before setting out to his car and driving back to his apartment to get ready.

...

Just like every year, Kyoko busied herself in the kitchen during the Happy Grateful Party, overseeing the pastry-making until Maria found her and forced her into a room where Jelly was waiting to transform her into a princess. Thirty minutes later, Kyoko was pushed out into the ballroom, dressed in a ball gown with an intricately embroidered golden bodice with a sweetheart neckline that fanned out into a grandiose emerald green skirt. Jelly had even put extensions into her hair, which ended at her collarbone in perfect curls. Kyoko had marveled over her appearance for almost ten minutes before Jelly had forced her into the ballroom.

Kyoko looked at the clock to see that it was 11:45 PM. She still had a bit of time before she would meet with Santa. Maybe she could see if she could find Ren or Kanae in the meantime. After a few minutes of walking around the ballroom, Kyoko eventually found Kanae standing near the entrance to the gardens, wearing a gorgeous navy gown.

"Moko-san! You look beautiful tonight!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"K-Kyoko? Wow... You look like a princess," Kanae gaped at her friend.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Kyoko smiled at the praise.

"Mo, you invited Santa here today, right? Have you found him yet?" Kanae wondered.

"No, we're meeting in the garden at midnight. It's almost time. Have you seen anyone walk into the garden?"

"I have, but it was Ts..." Kanae began to say before her eyes widened in shock.

"You know who Santa is?" Kyoko asked eagerly.

"No way...It all makes sense now!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Who is Santa?" Kyoko wondered.

"Look it's already 11:55. Go out there and see for yourself," Kanae encouraged her, practically pushing Kyoko towards the door.

"But Moko-san-"

"I'll see you when you're 18," Kanae waved before leaving Kyoko standing at the entrance to the gardens. Kyoko pushed open the doors, shivering as a gust of cold air hit her.

She wandered through the garden, carefully lifting her skirt so that it wouldn't get dirty. Kyoko eventually reached the end of the garden path where she saw a man sitting on a bench facing away from her with a Santa hat.

"Santa-san?" Kyoko broke the silence. Santa stood up at the sound of her voice, and Kyoko realized that he was wearing a designer suit that accentuated his lean figure. A figure that she knew all too well. The blood drained from Kyoko's face as Santa turned his head to smile at her, revealing none other than Tsuruga Ren.

"All this time...How didn't I notice sooner?" Kyoko muttered to herself. She played through all her interactions with Santa and felt stupid. She should have known from the start! A particular interaction burned itself into her mind when she confessed to Santa that she had a crush on Tsuruga Ren.

"Mogami-san, I'm sorry for the secrecy, but Boss told me that I couldn't tell anyone about my identity," Ren said, startling Kyoko out of her thoughts.

"But if you're Santa, then that means that I told you that I liked..." Kyoko shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the impending rejection. This was why he had brought her out here right? To reject her privately?

"Mogami-san, remember how I told you about my Christmas wish?"

"You wanted to be with the girl you love on Christmas Day..."

"I think Santa heard my wish. It just came true. It's midnight. Happy birthday, Mogami-san," Ren smiled.

"What? How is that possible? The only girl that you've been with on Christmas Day is me..."

"That's right," Ren smiled, stepping up to her and taking her hands in his. He brought a hand up to cup her cheek as he smiled at her lovingly.

"Mogami-san, I love you."

Kyoko brought her hands to her mouth in shock. "Y-You really do?"

"Will you help another Christmas wish of mine come true? Can I kiss you?" Ren asked. Kyoko nodded eagerly and fluttered her eyes shut as Ren pressed his lips to her own. It was all that she had dreamed of and more.

When Ren pulled back, Kyoko smirked as she tugged playfully on his Santa hat. "I'm glad you were my Secret Santa."


	11. A Helping Headphone

**I know I should be updating one of my ongoing fics, but I just had this story idea stuck in my head for so long. Around 4000 words later, I now have this fluffy oneshot for you all based on the trope where someone helps their friend on their date via a headset! This oneshot was written before Chapter 278, so Kyoko still does not have any idea that she is the girl that Ren mentioned to Bo. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Kanae whipped her head around at the sound of a high pitched shriek coming from her friend. She watched as Kyoko sank to the floor of the Love Me room, her knuckles going white as she clutched her phone.

"What's wrong?" Kanae asked in concern.

"H-He...text...d-d-date..."

"What?"

"H-He t-texted me and a-asked me out on a date!" Kyoko stammered, looking as if the world was about to end.

"Who?"

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko wailed.

"So, what's the problem?" Kanae wondered, now approaching Kyoko to look over her shoulder at her phone.

"It must be a mistake! He was probably sending this text to someone else. There's no way that Tsuruga-san would ask me on a d-date," Kyoko tried to reason. Kanae plucked the phone out of her hand and read Kyoko's message thread with Ren.

 _Ren: How was your day?_

 _Kyoko: It was pretty good! We were able to finish more scenes than we had to today, so now I don't have to go in for filming on Saturday! It's my first free day in so long! :)_

 _Ren: I'm glad for you. Do you have any plans this Saturday?_

 _Kyoko: Not yet._

 _Ren: How would you like to go on a date with me then?_

"It sounds to me like the message was meant for you," Kanae said.

"B-But people only go on dates with people that they like and want to form a relationship with! Tsuruga-san doesn't like me!"

"What makes you think that?"

"He's been in love with a high school girl ever since Dark Moon!"

Kanae almost dropped Kyoko's phone in shock. "He told you that?!"

"Yes! Well...technically he told Bo. He didn't know that I was under the suit. He never gave me the name of the girl, but he's still hung up over her every time I've talked to him."

"Have you ever considered that he might be talking about you?"

"EHHHHH?!"

Kanae sighed. Of course the idea hadn't crossed her mind. Kyoko was one of the most oblivious people in existence.

"Moko-san, y-you can't suggest something so obviously untrue!" Kyoko pouted.

"Then why would he ask you on a date?" Kanae asked. Kyoko couldn't come up with an answer.

"Listen, do you want to go on the date with him or not?" Kanae wondered. Kyoko's cheeks darkened in a blush.

"Y-Yes? Wait! No! Or…"

"Mo! Do you like him or not?!"

"I…I do…" Kyoko said shyly. Kanae started typing a message into Kyoko's phone.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Kyoko asked nervously, trying to sneak a peek at what Kanae was typing.

"I'm telling him that you would love to go on a date with him."

"MOKO-SAN, NOOO!"

"And sent," Kanae hit the send button before Kyoko could pry the phone from her hands. Kyoko let out an exasperated scream.

"Oh look, he replied: ' _There's a new exhibit at the Tokyo Zoo. How about we meet there at 11 AM on Saturday_?'" Kanae read off Ren's text.

"The zoo? Oooo I've never been there before."

" _I'll see you there :)"_ Kanae typed into the phone and sent before handing a stupefied Kyoko the phone.

"There. You'll meet him at the zoo on Saturday at 11."

"Noooo Moko-San why did you write this? I can't go on a date with him! I'll be too nervous! Moko-san, can you come on the date with me?"

"Mo! Of course not! Tsuruga would glare at me the whole date if I followed you guys!"

"Moko-san, I can't do this! You're the one who got me into this mess! You have to help me!" Kyoko begged, her eyes brimming with tears. Kyoko grabbed onto Kanae's shoulder, and Kanae had no way to shake her off.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll help you, but I have a better idea."

...

Kyoko fiddled with the beanie on her head nervously as she waited outside of the entrance of the zoo.

 _"Stop doing that! It sounds like an earthquake in my ear!"_ Kanae said through the earpiece hidden under Kyoko's beanie.

"What if he doesn't show up?" Kyoko worried.

" _He'll show up_ ," Kanae assured her.

"What do I do if he does show up?"

" _Mo! This is why I'm here! I'll help you_ ," Kanae said from the earpiece, waving over discreetly from behind a vending machine.

"This was a mistake. I need to leave!" Kyoko exclaimed, turning towards the door before bumping hard into the chest of the person in front of her.

"You must really not want to go on a date with me if you're leaving before it's even started."

Kyoko tilted her head up to meet Ren's gaze and cowered in fear. Although his face was obscured by sunglasses and a hat, Kyoko could tell from miles away that this was definitely Tsuruga Ren.

" _Don't just stand there gaping at him! Say hi!_ " Kanae groaned.

"H-Hi!" Kyoko squeaked.

"Hello, Mogami-san," Ren smiled back at her. Kyoko couldn't help but unconsciously gape at how handsome he was when he smiled. As a result, she saw Ren's lips move as he talked to her, but the words went in one ear and out the other.

" _Stop spacing out! He just asked you something!_ " Kanae barked into her ear.

"What was that?" Kyoko asked Ren, feeling embarrassed that she had been so distracted.

"I asked whether you were ready to go inside?"

"Oh! Ah...yes!" Kyoko replied hastily, running over to the entrance without checking behind to see if Ren followed her or not.

" _Mo! You can't just leave him behind! Stop!_ "

Kyoko suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked back as she realized she had left Ren behind. On top of that, she didn't have tickets. She turned around and headed back to Ren.

"Ah, I forgot we need tickets. Let's get in line to buy some," Kyoko said sheepishly.

"There's no need. I already bought us two tickets."

"You really didn't have to. I should pay you back for buying my ticket. How much was it?"

"Mogami-san, as a gentleman, it wouldn't be right if I made you pay for your ticket when I was the one to ask you on a date."

"But-"

" _Mo! Stop arguing about paying! You're on a date! Let him pay for you!"_ Kanae yelled in her ear, momentarily startling Kyoko.

"Um…I guess that makes sense. Th-Thank you…" Kyoko conceded.

"Shall we?" Ren gestured to the entrance. Kyoko nodded and followed him to the entrance where he showed their tickets to the worker.

"You look beautiful today, Mogami-san," Ren suddenly smiled at her.

"Oh! Th-Thank you!" Kyoko stuttered out.

"I don't think I've ever seen you wear a beanie before. I'm a bit surprised. It's a bit hot today to be wearing one."

"M-My ears get really cold even when it's hot outside," Kyoko lied.

"Huh. I didn't know that," Ren responded, accepting her lie. Kyoko let out a sigh of relief.

"So what do you want to see first?" Ren asked. Kyoko looked at the map in front of them.

"What about…the penguin exhibit?"

"Sounds good to me," Ren smiled, extending a hand for her. Even though she had held his hand many times as Setsu, currently Kyoko was looking at his hand as if he had claws.

" _Go on! Take his hand!"_ She heard Kanae in her ear. Kyoko shakily held out her hand and took Ren's, hoping that he couldn't feel how sweaty her hand was. As Ren led them towards the penguin exhibit, Kyoko marveled at the flightless birds.

"Wow! They have so many penguins here!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"Look at that one. He looks so happy. It almost looks like he's waving to us," Ren pointed to a penguin on the right.

"That's so cute!" Kyoko giggled. She looked around and saw a sign for seals.

"Oooo! Let's look at the seals next!" Kyoko exclaimed, pulling Ren with her without realizing it.

" _Walk slower! You're practically tugging the poor guy,"_ Kyoko heard from her earpiece. She looked behind herself to see that Ren was looking at her with an amused smile at where their hands were connected.

"S-Sorry! I should have asked if you were done looking at the penguins first before I pulled you to another exhibit."

"It's fine, Mogami-san. I'll follow you wherever you want to go," Ren smiled. Kyoko turned to the seals to hide the reddening of her cheeks. Kyoko watched excitedly as a seal swam right past the glass.

After they had watched the seals for a while, the two visited a few other exhibits on marine creatures. Eventually, they came upon a stingray exhibit. There was a large pool, and lots of people were crowded around it on all sides, sticking their hands in the water to touch the stingrays.

"Let's pet the stingrays!" Kyoko exclaimed, pulling Ren to the stingrays. Before entering the exhibit, both washed their hands at the sinks in front. Kyoko knelt down at the edge of the pool and rolled up the sleeves of her light sweater as Ren did the same. Kyoko stuck her hand in the water, and soon a stingray swooped right under her hand. The stingray felt smooth and slimy to Kyoko. A few more stingrays, little and big, swam around the area, and Kyoko enjoyed petting them.

"Oh look, there's another one coming," Ren motioned to a stingray swimming towards them. The stingray came to rest in between them, and Kyoko moved her hand to touch the stingray before accidentally grazing Ren's hand that had also suddenly darted out to touch the stingray. Kyoko instinctively pulled back her hand and blushed. She stood up and shook off the water from her hand.

"How about we go to another exhibit?" Kyoko asked. Ren nodded and followed her to the sink to wash their hands before leaving the stingray exhibit. As Ren was washing his hands, Kyoko crept off to the side and spoke into her earpiece.

"Moko-san, are you still there?" Kyoko whispered. It had been a while since Kanae said anything.

" _I am, but I don't think you need me anymore. You seem to have your date under control."_

 _"_ No! Don't leave me alone!" Kyoko said fearfully.

"I wasn't planning to," Ren responded, having finished washing his hands. "How about we get something to eat? It's already past lunchtime."

"You're actually hungry?"

"Not really, but my girlfriend always tells me that I have to eat three meals a day," Ren teased her back.

"G-Girlfriend? Why are you on a date with me if you have a girlfriend?" Kyoko paled.

" _He doesn't have another girlfriend! He's talking about you, idiot!"_ Kanae groaned.

"Oh! Y-You meant…m-me?" Kyoko's cheeks darkened.

"Sorry, I shouldn't assume such things. I should have asked you first, but I just thought that since we were going on a date…" Ren rubbed the back of his neck, his own cheeks darkening. Kyoko gaped at him, unable to find the words to respond with.

" _Kyoko, say something…"_

" _Kyoko!"_ Kanae repeated, still not getting an answer.

 _"Mo! If you don't know what to say, just repeat after me: I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Tsuruga-san."_

"I w-would be honored to be your g-g-gi…girl…girlfriend, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko parroted. His lips broke into a wide grin.

"I'm the one who is honored to be your boyfriend, Mogami-san. Or wait, can I call you by your given name instead?"

" _Yes!"_

"Y-Yes…" Kyoko repeated Kanae's affirmation.

"Then could you also call me by my given name, Kyoko-chan?"

If Kyoko wasn't already done for before, she was absolutely destroyed when she heard Ren say her given name.

" _Of course, Ren-san,"_ Kanae said into the earpiece.

"No!" Kyoko yelped.

" _What do you mean no?! Just call him by his given name!"_

"I can't do that!" Kyoko shook her head.

"Why not?" Both Kanae and Ren asked her at the same time.

"I'll be cursed if I say it!" Kyoko wailed.

 _"What are you saying?!"_

 _"_ Why would you be cursed for saying my name, Kyoko-chan?" Ren wondered. Kyoko's cheeks reddened at his use of her name again. It sounded strangely familiar for some reason…

 _"Just call him Ren-san already!"_

"I can't do it…" Kyoko shook her head.

 _"Mo! Call him Ren-san!"_

"No!" Kyoko shouted. Ren was looking at her in confusion. Why did it seem like she was responding to a conversation when there was no one else here?

 _"CALL HIM REN-SAN!"_

"I can't call him Ren-san!" Kyoko yelled. Ren took a step back in shock from the loudness of her voice as his brain short-circuited at her use of his given name. He didn't even notice that it seemed as if she was talking to someone else when saying it. Ren couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"N-No! Did I just say that out loud?!" Kyoko put her head in her hands. With this movement, she slightly messed up the placement of her beanie.

Noticing this, Ren reached out a hand. "Your beanie got a little messed up. Here, I'll help you fix it," Ren said, reaching out to help her.

"No! I can do it by myself!" Kyoko hurriedly pulled the beanie over her exposed earpiece.

"L-Let's g-get lunch!" Kyoko declared, still holding onto her beanie. Ren raised an eyebrow at her weird action but followed her nevertheless. They ended up choosing to eat at the cafe inside the zoo.

"Table for two," Ren told the hostess. She openly ogled him, not even noticing the girl standing next to him.

 _"That girl is totally checking him out."_

"W-What?!" Kyoko responded to Kanae, causing Ren and the hostess to turn to her outburst. Noticing her for the first time, the hostess narrowed her eyes but grabbed two menus and showed them to their seats. Kyoko made sure to choose the seat that faced the rest of the dining room so that Ren would have to take the seat facing away from it. From the corner of her eye, Kyoko saw Kanae being led by the waiter to a table for one a few tables away from theirs. Ren was looking through his menu, and Kyoko opened her own to browse through. She decided on a house salad and closed her menu.

"What are you thinking of getting, Kyoko-chan?" Ren wondered.

"The house salad."

"Hmm, that sounds pretty good. I think I'll have that as well," Ren said. He flagged down a waiter and ordered for both of them.

"Tsu-Re...Tsuruga-san-"

"Kyoko-chan, didn't I say that I wanted you to call me Ren?"

"I don't feel comfortable doing that..."

"Please? You won't be cursed if you say it. Nothing bad happened earlier when you said my name," Ren said, using his puppy dog eyes on her. Kyoko shrunk under the power of his cuteness.

"Okay...R-Ren-san..." Kyoko said softly. She had already accidentally said his given name once, so what was a second time?

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Ren smirked. Kyoko pouted. He was just trying to tease her, wasn't he?

 _"He's trying to tease you. Tease him back!"_ Kanae echoed her thoughts.

Kyoko put on a look of determination. Two could play at this game. Since she had already said his name, it was go big or go home.

"I was thinking that I could call you Ren instead," Kyoko smirked back at him. Ren's face darkened in a blush, and Kyoko couldn't help but feel a bit of pride that she had caused such an effect on him. She absentmindedly twirled the straw in her iced water. However, she wasn't prepared for his next attack after he had collected himself.

"Yes, I would like that as long as I can call you Kyoko."

Kyoko knocked over the cup of water onto Ren's side of the table in shock. He stood up quickly, but not quickly enough since some of the water still drenched his lap.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Kyoko cried out, standing up as well and picking up her napkin to dab at the water without thinking. She began to rub the water on Ren's thigh, and Ren grabbed her hand to stop her as she attempted to move her hand higher up.

 _"What are you doing?! You were about to grope him!"_ Kanae yelled in her ear.

Kyoko dropped the napkin in shock as realization and embarrassment dawned upon her. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to spill the drink on you, and then I so forwardly tried to dry it without regard to where I had spilled the drink and now I've probably ruined your designer pants. I swear I'll pay for any dry cleaning costs, and the table!-"

"No, it's my fault. I was the one to push you too much. My pants will dry, so you don't have to worry. As for the wet table, I'll just ask a waiter for a towel," Ren said, flagging down a waiter. The waiter, anticipating his request, already had a towel in hand and wiped the table until it was dry. Ren thanked him before sitting down again. Kyoko slumped into her seat across from him, still embarrassed that such a thing had happened.

"I'm sorry that this date has been such a disaster. You probably never want to go on a date with me again. Why did you even ask me on a date in the first place? You could have asked anyone else, and they would have immediately said yes. After all, who can say no to a date with Tsuruga Ren?"

"Kyoko-chan," Ren began, careful not to drop the honorific after what had just transpired, "I asked you on a date because I like you."

"What?!"

"Is it so hard to believe that I've fallen for you?"

"Yes! You're not supposed to like me! You're in love with another girl!"

 _"When did he ever say that to you?!"_ Kanae asked through the earpiece, although Kyoko ignored her question. Ren took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure where you got that idea, but I've been in love with you ever since you were my temporary manager."

"What?"

"I didn't realize that I was in love with you until a chicke-someone helped me, but I truly have been in love with you ever since you were kind to me as my temporary manager."

Kyoko's brain suddenly processed all her conversations with Ren as Bo. It all made sense if she was the girl he had been talking about! High school girl, chastised him about his eating habits, thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day... Every box checked! Kyoko's jaw dropped, and she stopped functioning.

" _Mo! He just confessed! Tell him you like him back!...Kyoko! Can you hear me?!_ _Ugh, you know what, just repeat after me: I also love you."_

"I need to go to the bathroom," Kyoko stood up suddenly, leaving before Ren could stop her. Kanae followed her towards the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind her as Kyoko leaned over the sink.

"Why do you look like you're about to throw up? Isn't this what you wanted? You like him, and he likes you back!" Kanae leaned against the wall with crossed arms. Kyoko looked up at her through the mirror and frowned.

"Moko-san, I don't understand how any of this is possible. He said that he's liked me ever since I was his temporary manager! I thought he hated me! Why would he fall for me then?"

"Don't ask me to psychoanalyze Tsuruga's heart. I have no idea."

"This means that I'm definitely the girl that he talked to Bo about..."

"I thought we already established this before..."

"Moko-san, he told Bo that he's never been in love before. I got him to realize that he was in love with me, but what if I was wrong? He had no idea what love actually was! Maybe he's just mistaking his feelings of friendship with me for love!"

"Kyoko, even I can see how disgustingly sweet he looks at you. He had that stupid lovesick smile on his face all day today! Trust me, he loves you."

"He does?"

"Yes! Now get back out there! He's probably worried about you!"

"Okay, just give me a minute."

"Why? Just go out there already!"

"Moko-san, I actually do have to use the bathroom," Kyoko smiled sheepishly.

"Oh. Well then hurry up so that you can get back to lover boy."

…

When Kyoko returned to her seat, she saw that their food had already arrived, but Ren hadn't started eating. He seemed to be muttering to himself under his breath. She looked up at him but quickly looked down again as their eyes met. Kyoko picked up her fork and began to eat, trying to ignore the butterflies in her chest.

" _Mo! Why aren't you saying anything?!"_

"Just let me eat my food first!" Kyoko whispered back harshly.

"Wait, what did I do?" Ren wondered. Kyoko's cheeks reddened as she realized she had said that to Kanae out loud.

"Sorry, nothing. I…I was just talking to…the fly that keeps trying to get to my food," Kyoko lied.

"I didn't see a fly…"

"Um, so how are you liking your meal?" Kyoko tried to steer the conversation away from her slip.

"It's fine. How about yours?"

"It's also fine."

Kyoko continued to eat her salad as the two fell into another silence. However, when her plate was empty, she had nothing left to hide behind. She looked over to see that Ren had also finished with his lunch and was looking at her in anticipation of an explanation for what had happened earlier. She was about to open her mouth to begin that conversation before the waiter came to their table with the check. Ren immediately grabbed the check and stood up to go pay at the front, leaving Kyoko alone at the table. Kyoko slowly stood up and followed him to the front. After he was done paying, he held the door of the restaurant open for her, and she quietly thanked him. They walked together silently towards the next animal exhibit.

"Look, I'm sorry if what I said earlier upset you. I know your stance on love, and it was rude of me to force my feelings onto you. I just thought that you might feel the same way since you agreed to go on a date with me and agreed to be my girlfriend earlier, but I guess I was wrong," Ren broke the silence.

" _No! Don't let him misunderstand the situation! Tell him that you love him back!"_ Kanae urged in her earpiece.

"Stop talking. I don't need you anymore," Kyoko sighed. Ren deflated even more than he had been before.

 _"Kyoko, why did you just say that?! He's going to think you were talking to him! Clear this misunderstanding right now! Say something else-"_

"I love you too! There, I said it! I don't need you anymore, Moko-san, I got this," Kyoko lifted her hand up to her beanie and took it off, revealing the earpiece in her ear. She took out the earpiece and took it out.

"I love you, Tsuruga-san. I love you so much that when you asked me on this date, I asked Moko-san to coach me through an earpiece so that I wouldn't screw anything up. I love you, okay?!" Kyoko exploded. Ren stared at her, shocked and not saying anything before a laugh erupted from his throat. He tried to steady himself on a nearby bench as he laughed so hard that he had tears coming out of his eyes. Kyoko couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that he was laughing so hard at her confession, and she gingerly sat down next to him.

"Tsuruga-san, why are you laughing so much?" Kyoko dared to ask. Ren finally came back to his senses as his laughter died down.

"I can't believe that we both had someone coaching us on our first date."

"Wait, what?"

Ren smiled and pulled off his hat, revealing a similar earpiece in his own ear. "Yashiro-san was coaching me this whole time as well."

"E-Ehhh?!"

"You were right earlier. We don't need them anymore. I think we're fine on our own," Ren smiled, taking his earpiece out of his ear. The two laughed together, and Ren scooted closer to Kyoko and placed a hand on one of her own.

"So what do we do now that we don't have our friends telling us what to do?" Kyoko asked, a bit of a teasing glint in her eyes.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think I have an idea. As Yashiro-san was yelling in my ear earlier, I think this is where I kiss the girl."

"Oh. I have a feeling that Moko-san would tell me that as well," Kyoko smirked, closing her eyes and leaning forward to meet Ren's lips with her own.

They were both idiots, but at least they were idiots in love.

* * *

 **Let me know if you liked this oneshot! :)**


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